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Eddie Howe had exhausted all options.

Previously, Howe had sent out teams that applied intense pressure against Manchester City. He fielded others who adopted deeper defensive positions. He experimented with multiple formations, all without positive results.

The situation had deteriorated to where Howe half-seriously claimed "we've exhausted our options" pre-game.

However, he uncovered an effective approach.

Following a bruising loss at Brentford, the Magpies urgently needed to bounce back, The Newcastle management created a blueprint to finally defeat Guardiola's team.

The strategy paid dividends with a 2-1 win in front of a passionate home crowd giving Howe his maiden win over Guardiola's Manchester City in league competition.

"I've got lists and lists of things that haven't worked against them so I could probably tell you what doesn't," Howe explained. "The list of effective methods is brief, but we continuously learn and refine our approach. This was our process."

'I don't believe in radical overhauls'

Planning commenced in the aftermath of their Brentford setback.

Howe spent numerous hours examining game film, assessing training and searching for fixes to their up-and-down form.

With a smaller squad during the international period, the team worked on restoring "their vitality and movement".

Important modifications were made specifically for the City match.

Skipper Bruno Guimaraes took up a central midfield position, replacing Sandro Tonali who had occupied that spot, as full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento began a match together for the first time in months and proved highly influential.

Fabian Schar returned to the starting lineup for the first time in two months, taking Sven Botman's position.

Despite the changes, Howe avoided dramatic overhauls and preserved his trusted 4-3-3 setup and two of the three modifications to his starting lineup were essentially forced after Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon missed out through injury.

The majority of players who featured at Brentford and, indeed, in the damaging defeat at West Ham, were given opportunities to redeem themselves.

"I'm against making wholesale changes," Howe emphasized. "Unless you're in absolute panic mode, which we're not, and I don't believe in that style of leadership anyway.

"I'm confident in identifying our best performers and aim to give them maximum chances to showcase their abilities through guidance and development opportunities."

Barnes Delivers When It Matters

Something clearly needed to change, however.

Prior to this game, only Wolves and Leeds United had netted fewer Premier League goals than Newcastle.

New signing Nick Woltemade had seemed detached, with minimal attacking supply, particularly away from home.

Although Woltemade was away with Germany during the international break, Newcastle worked on different movements of players around the forward including Barnes and Jacob Murphy, to enhance his performance when he rejoined the team.

The Magpies generated clear chances for Woltemade during the match, with the City keeper making three crucial saves.

But whereas Newcastle were once overly dependent on Woltemade, other players have begun to contribute significantly.

Particularly Barnes.

The forward was responsible for several significant misses in the first half - even failing to hit the target with an open goal - and admitted he was not "the most popular man" at halftime.

Yet Barnes didn't just score the opener with a quality finish from range in the second period, he netted the decider shortly after City drew level via Ruben Dias.

Newcastle had been ahead versus Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham but surrendered their leads.

But they didn't collapse when Manchester City equalized or, indeed, after eight minutes of stoppage time were added.

This was an evening when Newcastle won more tackles and aerial duels, and made more blocks than their opponents.

While City dominated the ball, inevitably skewing the numbers, Newcastle defended resolutely with 36 clearances and limited City to only four accurate shots.

This defensive effort was praised by former Magpies defender Jonathan Woodgate.

"Without the ball they were magnificent, complicating City's efforts to penetrate defensive lines," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Second half I considered them the superior team, consistently catching City on counter-attacks and ultimately scoring two magnificent goals by Barnes. What an entertaining match."

St James' Stronghold

Nevertheless, is this outcome at a vibrant St James' Park truly astonishing?

Only Manchester City (13) have won more Premier League home games than Howe's team (11) in 2025.

Since the beginning of last season, Newcastle have won eight, drawn two and lost just two of their home fixtures against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham across all competitions.

Yet in away matches, Newcastle have failed to win a Premier League game since April.

This explains why the team were just a single point above the relegation zone before Saturday's significant victory.

"Although I wish to state that atmosphere shouldn't impact gameplay, it fundamentally alters proceedings," Howe acknowledged. "We must determine how to transfer positive energy into our away performances when we lack crowd support.

"That's our responsibility to resolve, whether through system adjustments, personnel changes. Whatever the solution, we must work diligently to find answers."