Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic played the entirety of the match in which Julian Alvarez’s goal extended our winning record at home to 17 consecutive matches.
With a cacophony of noise emanating from the Etihad as the teams took to the pitch, it’s easy to see why players would be nervous about their first performance in front of home fans.
But for City’s new signings, they exceeded expectations in a game against tough opponents and did so effortlessly.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a real close look and Gvardiol was brilliant,” said Morrison when speaking to FG pitch side on Matchday Live after the game.
“There was key moments. Obviously I could spend hours talking to you about moments in that game where we were in trouble. Obviously the tackle on [Callum] Wilson was a gamechanger.
“There was a couple of incidents before where it was two on two and he made the correct decision. So already creating a great relationship with the back four.
“Kovacic was brilliant. Kovacic was so so good today. The way he carries the ball, his energy. And he’s got this ability where he looks back to play and he turns back out and he explodes the play and the tempo of the pass is brilliant.”
And they’re not the only player Morrison was full of praise for.
Phil Foden had a stand-out performance for City, dominating midfield and provided an attacking spark that aided in giving City the lead.
“You need somebody to step up. We had the bad news this week with [Kevin] De Bruyne. Silva has been out, Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] is gone. And you need somebody to step up. And the lad is incredibly talented,” said Morrison.
“Today he was magnificent. I think maybe Newcastle, not saying they showed too much respect, but they didn’t go and stop him. Because he was the difference in the two teams.”
