The unbroken blue sky signified a perfect, superbly crisp, winter’s day but, for
Pep Guardiola, it must have seemed anything but ideal. As a jubilant, critic-confounding Jonjo Shelvey celebrated his late Newcastle United equaliser in front of the
Manchester City manager’s technical area, Guardiola was left to reflect on two more points dropped in a title race which already seems Liverpool’s to lose.
It was the first time he had faced Steve Bruce in managerial combat but, if his Newcastle counterpart could not quite reprise the victory against City that Rafael Benítez managed here, the home side’s attacking pace emphasised that the Champions are mortal after all.