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• Eddie Howe salutes performance as Newcastle end gruelling week with Man Utd win

  Eddie Howe saluted one of Newcastle’s best performances of the season after watching them beat Manchester United to end a gruelling week on a high.

  Four days after suffering late heartache in a 1-1 Champions League draw with Paris St Germain, having dispatched Premier League rivals Chelsea 4-1 before heading for France, the Magpies secured a 1-0 league victory over the men from Old Trafford at St James’ Park.

  Asked if that represented the perfect ending to a testing week, head coach Howe said: “Yes it is. I think that’s one of our best performances of the season, for me.

  “I thought we were very, very good on and off the ball and when you consider the week we’ve had and the difficult games we’ve had, the end of the game in Paris, what a response from the group of players.”

  Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute strike from Kieran Trippier’s cross ultimately secured the points on a night when Newcastle largely dominated without reward until his intervention.

  Having been robbed of victory by a contentious stoppage-time penalty in Paris, they were spared further pain when Harry Maguire inadvertently turned Antony’s shot past substitute goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, but from an offside position.

  Gordon has now scored in each of his last four league games on Tyneside and taken his tally for the season to six goals to reap the rewards of his hard work on the training pitch.

  Howe said: “He himself has really worked on that.

  “I’m really pleased because I thought he played really well at the start of the season, but every attacker needs to score, needs to have that feeling and that confidence that that brings.

  “It elevates your game, not just the goals, but he’s getting assists as well. He’s involved in match-winning moments.

  “I thought he played really well again today. It was a really good cross from Kieran, a good team move and a good finish.”

  The only disappointment for Howe was that goalkeeper Nick Pope, who has played such a key role in the club’s recent success, suffered a dislocated shoulder late in the game and may now need surgery.

  Asked how long he might be sidelined, the 46-year-old said: “It’s too early to say. He was in pain when the shoulder was out of its joint. It’s been put back in now and he feels much more comfortable.

  “We’ll seek specialist opinion, but it doesn’t look good.”

  It proved a difficult night for the visitors, who have now lost to the Magpies in their last three encounters and rarely looked like avoiding that fate until a late flurry.

  Manager Erik ten Hag said: “Today we have to say ‘credit to Newcastle’. After the start, where we could have scored with (Alejandro) Garnacho, they were better than us, they were more proactive.

  “We had to go back, we had to defend and we did that. We allowed them one goal, but at the end, we fought back, we had two good opportunities, but unluckily we could not take a point from here.”

  England international Marcus Rashford in particular cut a frustrated figure and was replaced by Rasmus Hojlund with 29 minutes remaining.

  Asked about Rashford’s form, Ten Hag said: “He works hard and he is investing a lot. He will get back, he will recover and he’s got all our support.”

• De la Fuente says Spain received toughest draw for Euro 2024

  Spain boss Luis de la Fuente believes La Roja have received the toughest draw for the group stage of Euro 2024, having been handed games against Italy, Croatia and Albania.

  As one of five teams with the best records across the qualification groups, Spain joined hosts Germany, as well as England, France, Portugal and Belgium in pot one for Saturday's draw in Hamburg.

  That did not stop them being handed a tough set of opponents, however, with reigning champions Italy and 2022 World Cup bronze medallists Croatia joining La Roja and Albania in Group B.

  Spain are the only team to win back-to-back editions of the Euros, triumphing in 2008 and 2012, and excluding penalty shoot-outs, they have only lost two of their last 22 matches at the Euros, winning 13 and drawing seven.

  The only two teams to beat La Roja at the tournament during that time are Croatia and Italy, both of whom did so in 2016.

  While De la Fuente says there is no such thing as a straightforward group, he believes Spain will face a particularly difficult challenge in Germany.

  "The level is very high. All the groups are tough, complex, but ours may be the highest level," the Spain boss told reporters at Saturday's draw ceremony.

  "There are other complicated ones, like France and the Netherlands [in Group D], but I think ours is the most complex. 

  "We are playing in a European Championship, and we all know that the difficulty is at the maximum, including for teams playing against Spain.

  "But that will make us concentrate from the first moment. We know perfectly how to play Italy and Croatia, and Albania are a very dangerous team. 

  "Italy was not in the favourites' pot, but it was guaranteed that no one wanted them. Their potential is better than the moment they are going through." 

• Pep Guardiola knows Man City fans will be behind team if ‘bad moments’ arrive

  Pep Guardiola has no doubt Manchester City’s fans will be there to lift the team if they ever hit a poor run.

  City supporters have seen little but success during Guardiola’s reign as manager, winning five Premier League titles and a glorious treble last season.

  Yet Guardiola recognises that run may one day come to an end and it is then the City manager hopes the fans, so used to being entertained, will be able to inspire them.

  The Spaniard said: “We want the fans to enjoy and have fun, have one hour and 30 minutes in good moments. That depends on us. When we play good, always they are there.

  “It’s just sometimes the situation is not going well. In that moment it’s not because the players don’t want it – because they’ve proved over how many years their consistency – but it is in that moment we need them.

  “Of course we won a lot and, in the future, maybe you have to understand in the mind that this is an exception. It’s not normal to win the treble, it’s not normal to win five Premier Leagues in six years.

  “You have to understand that – OK, continue to enjoy – but if the bad moments are coming this season and the next one and the next one, you have to be there.

  “And I’m pretty sure they’ll be there because it’s a club that has come from Maine Road and from being in mid-table, not fighting for the titles. They were there all the time.

  “I was not here but the people talk to me. So if it’s coming back down a little, ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Do what you have to do to come back there on top of the league and don’t be down for a long time.”

  Guardiola, however, is confident the current crop of players would not allow a slump to occur.

  He said: “The players are the most important thing, and I know they know it, otherwise what we have done cannot be possible.

  “The players always are there, even losing 0-2, still we run, still we fight.”

  Guardiola’s own powers of motivation are well known, although he has downplayed the significance of his sharp comments after last season’s home clash against Tottenham as he prepares to host the same opponents on Sunday.

  City suffered a dip in form in the early part of 2023 and needed to come from 2-0 down against Spurs to avoid a third successive loss.

  Afterwards, Guardiola labelled his side the “Happy Flowers” team, essentially accusing them of lacking concentration.

  Observers later cited it as a turning point in their treble-winning campaign.

  But Guardiola said: “That was my feeling in that moment. I had to say something. Because we won we can believe it (worked) but it is not the truth. Because we won (people say), ‘How brilliant was Pep?’ but we could do it again and it might not work.”