Pep Guardiola claims Newcastle United scare was 'really, really good' for Man City

Pep Guardiola has welcomed the adversity Manchester City have faced at Newcastle as they try to defend their Premier League crown.

The champions trailed 3-1 at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon before battling their way to a 3-3 draw in a thrilling encounter with Eddie Howe's men.

Reflecting on a thrilling afternoon at Tyneside, Guardiola said: "Why not pay tribute to the Newcastle team? Brentford beat (Manchester) United 4-0 and everyone talks about how serious United are and Brentford? They did something right, right?

“When you take this type of player with this quality, it can happen. It's the start of the season and I think it's really, really good for us to have this kind of experience.

"We talked about it at half time, 'we have to live with this, 2-1, we'll see what happens now, how we are as a team, let's go'.

"That's what we have to do to get through these kinds of situations. That's why the Premier League is so difficult. Everyone will lose points and we lost the first two, but considering how we behaved from 2-1…”

Newcastle marks progress under Howe with disappointment in draw with Man City

City took the lead in the fifth minute through Ilkay Gundogan but fell behind at the break after Miguel Almiron and then Callum Wilson, ahead of England boss Gareth Southgate, struck.

Kieran Trippier extended the home side's lead with a fine free-kick, but goals from City's £51m summer signings Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva ensured the visitors came away with something something to show for their efforts.

When asked if he had feared the game would go over them at 3-1, Guardiola's mind flashed back to last season's 3-2 win over Aston Villa in which City were trailing 2-0 with 14 minutes remaining.

He said: "After what happened against Aston Villa - in five minutes we scored three goals - I can count on everything, so no problem."

Newcastle were grateful for some sort of reprieve when Trippier was initially sent off by referee Jarred Gillett for a cynical 73rd-minute challenge on Kevin De Bruyne which he later reduced to a yellow after reviewing the incident .

Guardiola, who admitted he never saw the tackle again, said: "I think the foul was clear, but I don't know if it's a red card or a yellow card."< /p>

The opposite number, Howe, was delighted with his team's performance, although he was ultimately disappointed with the result.

He said: "When you are 3-1 up in any game, you expect to win. I could sit here and say no side of me is disappointed - I think I would lie.

"But I would much rather focus on the positives today, not the negatives, and I thought the positives far outweighed."

Asked how far his side have come to compete regularly with City, Howe added: "Even with today's result, let me be very clear, we still have a long way to go, we have a long way to go in terms of growth and improvement.

"But the big positive to take from today is how the players are attacking it. They're giving it their all, and that's all I can ask of the squad we have."< /p>