At the final whistle, Pep Guardiola and Eddie Howe shared an unusually prolonged and warm embrace, almost falling into each other's arms. After recent verbal altercations involving Manchester City's manager with Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Newcastle's cold war with sporting director Paul Mitchell, it was almost reassuring to see the pair exchanging broad smiles and whispering in each other's ears. For once, it was probably easy to agree that a draw was just about the right result, even if it required a tremendous late save from Nick Pope to divert a goal-bound volley from Bernardo Silva.

A change of footwear early in the first half left Kieran Trippier playing with his left foot illuminated by a neon peach-colored boot and the right encased in a slightly more subtle shade of purple. In the 35th minute, Newcastle's right-back, preferred to Tino Livramento here, suddenly looked as if he had developed two left feet as Jack Grealish finally succeeded in dodging his former England teammate. Grealish delivered a smart early pass, conjuring an opening for Josip Gvardiol. After cutting in on his left foot, City's left-back removed Dan Burn from the defensive equation by switching the ball to his right foot. With Burn seemingly expecting a first-time shot, all that remained was for Gvardiol to direct a perfectly calibrated angled shot into the bottom corner.

Until then, the entertainment had been weaker than the tepid September sunshine. Granted, Newcastle began in ultra-intense mode, showcasing the high, hard press that in recent weeks had not so much malfunctioned as been nonexistent. The only problem was that with Manuel Akanji regularly stepping out of City's defence and helping Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis, and co fill the Rodri-sized hole in the visiting midfield, Howe's players became increasingly frustrated before starting to run out of steam. It dictated that, without ever looking properly fluent, let alone truly menacing, Grealish and Gvardiol were able to take advantage of a rare chink in the home defensive armour. Erling Haaland probably regarded Burn's role in that goal as divine retribution after contemplating the large hole torn into a sock torn as the home center half's studs earlier grazed his Achilles in the course of a slightly desperate tackle.

If Haaland was less involved than he would have hoped, Ederson looked happy to be reduced to a largely spectating role. By way of proving his concentration levels remained undiminished, City's goalkeeper saved superbly from Joelinton as half-time beckoned. Early in the second half, Ederson was beaten from the penalty spot by Anthony Gordon. It all began with the England winger meeting Joelinton's fine ball and, with Akanji wrong-footed, accelerating into the area and almost inviting contact with the goalkeeper as he ran towards his outstretched arm. Ederson was subsequently yellow-carded for the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity but remained on the pitch due to what was deemed a clear attempt to play the ball. Within a nanosecond of that contact, Gordon, played onside by Kyle Walker, had been felled and a penalty awarded. Normally Alexander Isak would have taken that kick, but the Sweden striker was absent with a broken toe, leaving Gordon to not merely understudy at center forward but try his luck from 12 yards. Happily for a winger close to signing a lengthy, and lucrative, contract extension with Newcastle following an unsettled summer, it was not merely immaculately executed but sent Ederson the wrong way.

By now, the tension, on and off the pitch, was rising, something emphasised as Grealish and Sandro Tonali both collected bookings following an off-the-ball altercation. It was Tonali's first Newcastle start since his return from a 10-month suspension for breaches of betting regulations, and the Italy international initially looked Howe's most composed midfielder before ultimately fading. Yet for all his undoubted talent and intelligence, it remains to be seen if Tonali is really all that well suited to Howe's obsession with high-energy, heavy metal football. Sean Longstaff, Tonali's second-half replacement here, might have won it for Newcastle but, instead, swept an inviting first-time shot wide as the game turned thoroughly compelling. If substitutes Phil Foden and Savinho had raised the visiting tone, Newcastle were clearly heeding Howe's pre-match instruction to “step up” and start justifying their starting places. They protected Nick Pope so well that, for long periods, he had surprisingly little to do in goal until that save after Silva unleashed the aforementioned stupendous shot, denying City a victory they would not quite have deserved.