WHAT was Anthony Gordon’s key moment in Newcastle’s draw with Manchester City? Easy, right. Winning and converting the second-half penalty that secured the Magpies a deserved point against the reigning champions.

That’s certainly the incident that had the greatest impact on the final scoreline, but in terms of setting the overall tone for the game, and sparking the marked improvement from the previous weekend’s timid no-show at Craven Cottage, you need to go back to the very first minute of Saturday’s game.

Playing as the central striker in the absence of Alexander Isak, Gordon aggressively closed down Ederson, forcing the Manchester City goalkeeper to play a quick pass to Ruben Dias. Gordon changed direction, tearing towards Dias, prompting the centre-half to shuffle the ball sideways to Josko Gvardiol. Gordon then changed direction again, sprinting towards the left-back before dumping him onto his backside as he clattered into him, conceding a foul.

Desire, commitment, aggression, intensity. All watchwords for Newcastle under Eddie Howe; all attributes that had been sorely lacking as the Magpies suffered their first defeat of the season seven days earlier.

Modern-day football is in thrall to analytics and tactical nuances. Sometimes, though, you just have to run. Cover that little bit more ground. Tackle that little bit harder. Want it that little bit more than your opponent. Newcastle’s successes under Howe have been based around their energy, physicality and drive, and there’s no doubt they are a lesser side when those elements of their game are missing.

Howe conceded as much in his press conference on the eve of the City game, when he effectively attributed the Fulham defeat to a general lack of desire that he clearly deemed unacceptable. ‘We didn’t like ourselves’ was his blunt assessment of Newcastle’s overall attitude at Craven Cottage. Safe to say he would have been much more satisfied by Saturday’s response.

Newcastle produced five turnovers in the final third against City, their highest tally of the season so far. They had 25 touches in the City box, their second-highest tally of the campaign despite the quality of the opposition, and their approach clearly ruffled the champions. Gordon, while not a natural centre-forward, led from the front, closing down at every opportunity. Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton snapped and snarled at the heart of midfield, hurtling into tackles as they deprived a Rodri-less City midfield of any time or space on the ball. Sandro Tonali spent most of the second half embroiled in a running battle with Jack Grealish that exemplified Newcastle’s refusal to give an inch.

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Treading a fine line? Undoubtedly. But having built a fair bit of their success in the 2022-23 season around an embracing of the ‘dark arts’, it is surely no bad thing if Howe’s players are rediscovering their nasty streak.

“You need the steeliness, the determination to beat your opponent or try to beat your opponent and give no inch on duels, tackles, whatever the moment is,” said Howe. “We had that bite to us, and it was great to see.

“The first thing, before anything else, if that you have to work hard and you have to win your tackles and win your headers, which is what we didn’t do against Fulham. We were too easy to play against.

“Today, I think Manchester City walk off and go, ‘They're a team that have committed everything’. That’s all we want because when you then add the ability to it, we’re a match for anybody.”

On top of commitment, you still need a string of impressive individual performances to get anything out of a game against Manchester City of course, and Newcastle had that at the weekend.

Gordon held his nerve what it mattered most, holding the line to remain onside when Guimaraes sent him clear shortly before the hour mark and coolly slotting his spot-kick into the bottom corner after he had been sent sprawling by Ederson.

Guimaraes, Joelinton and Tonali ensured Newcastle shaded the midfield battle, while Dan Burn and Fabian Schar successfully shackled Erling Haaland, restricting the Premier League’s leading goalscorer to a couple of half-chances. Burn was turned by Gvardiol as the City full-back opened the scoring in the first half, but was otherwise excellent.

Nick Pope did his bit late on, making crucial late saves from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, but Newcastle’s stand-out performer was Lewis Hall, who delivered his best performance in a black-and-white shirt to mark Bernardo out of the game and at least temporarily silence the critics who have questioned his defensive abilities since his arrival from Chelsea.

Hall made ten successful recoveries of the ball, four interceptions and won two of his three one-on-one duels. He did not concede a single foul and also produced seven successful passes in the final third. He still has plenty to learn at the age of 20, but the raw natural ability is clearly there.

“I was really pleased with Lewis because that was a big challenge,” said Howe. “He was up against not just his starting opponent, but also the substitutions with fresh players coming on. He was fatigued late in the game, and it was really interesting to see how he adapted to that battle.

“I thought defensively he was very good. His positioning and understanding were good because, tactically, we did something slightly different with our backline and he was pivotal to that.

“I thought he did really, really well. Then with his composure on the ball, he’s very good technically. We can probably get him involved in the final third more, so there’s areas to improve, but he’s got a very bright future if he continues to develop like he is.”