Our league record against the blue side of Manchester was average before the injection of megabucks into the club. Since their takeover, we have only won once (League Cup 4th Round) in 16 matches. In this fixture in the 2013/14 season, Cheick Tiote scored a spectacular equalising goal which was chalked off two minutes later after the referee, Mike Jones deemed Yoan Gouffran to be in an offside position whilst interfering with play influenced by the false claims made by then goalkeeper, Joe Hart.
In the years before the takeover occurred at Eastlands, Manchester City found St. James' Park a rather tough place to go to. The last league win for the Magpies came in September 2005 under Graeme Sounness - That match was the eighth occasion we had played Man City at home in the Premier League. Newcastle had won six of those eight matches. The last time we did a league double over the Citizens was in the 1983/84 season in the second tier which will be explained a little more in due course..
Facts and Figures
All Competitions
Newcastle wins: 71
Man City wins: 65
Draws: 39
Premier League
Man City wins: 20
Newcastle wins: 7
Draws: 7
Premier League at St. James' Park
Man City wins: 8
Newcastle wins: 6
Draws: 3
Previous ten (all competitions)
Man City wins: 8 (29 goals)
Newcastle wins: 1 (5 goals)
Draws: 1
Biggest win (in this fixture)
Newcastle United 5 - 0 Man City (29/10/1983)
Like what was mentioned beforehand, this occasion was the last time Newcastle managed to do the double over Manchester City. The biggest win in this fixture was the first of the two league matches as Newcastle did the double over Man City and went on to finish the season with promotion back to the top flight after a six-year absence.
Biggest defeats (in this fixture)
Newcastle United 0 - 3 Man City (20/10/1956)
Looking at the present day, it is Guardiola's Man City who are currently full of confidence as they are in the midst of boasting a perfect league record since the end of August and that run has given themselves a commanding lead at the top of table. However, complacency could come into effect on the team. With many suggesting that they are capable of completing an invincible league season, the festive period is probably the best time to be playing them. With fixture congestion being commonly used as an excuse for dropping points over this part of the season, we could catch a Man City squad who could be feeling leggy if they try and continue their long unbeaten run.
To conclude on a positive note, let's go back to the origins of this fixture. It took Man City 17 visits to St. James' Park before grabbing their first win on Tyneside. With having several encounters at the back end of the 19th century soon after we were founded in 1892, Man City eventually got that first win at St. James' Park on 15th February 1913, that loss must have felt like an arrow through the heart (the day after Valentine's Day. I love jokes on Valentine's Day).