Pep Guardiola shrugs off Schar and Lascelles' failed plan to irk Haaland & Man City stars
Newcastle United centre-backs Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles tried to leave their mark on Man City's superstars but to no avail
Pep Guardiola accepted that Newcastle United's only way of stopping his all-conquering Manchester City side was to turn to the rough stuff in their FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium.
Both Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles got stuck into Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku with the only stats column that United managed to beat City in being fouls. Newcastle dished out 16 fouls compared to City's seven with Lascelles, Schar and Miguel Almiron all picking up yellow cards.
When asked about Newcastle's physical approach Guardiola, speaking after the game, said: "It is what it is. He (Haaland) knows it will be like that.
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"The central defender will use more force than him. It is what it is and we have known that for a long time no problem."
After the game, Newcastle received a few plaudits from some quarters that they had done well to stay in the game. But Guardiola felt that his team were safe with the ball and enjoyed 75% of possession.
The truth is they never looked in the slightest danger of losing the game or even going behind in the 90 minutes. Guardiola reflected: 'We played really well, we were so safe with the ball. Mateo (Kovacic), Rodri and Bernardo kept the ball so well. The game was really good."
Eddie Howe believes that his team did "unsettle" Man City on a number of occasions. The former AFC Bournemouth head coach Howe said: "I thought we did OK and stuck at it and unsettled them at times. Ultimately, in the final third when we had opportunities to hurt them, the quality wasn't there.
"But we can't feel sorry for ourselves, it's happened. This season could have been different, some big moments have gone against us."