Nathan Ake was withdrawn after 21 minutes against Newcastle
Pep Guardiola confirmed that Nathan Ake suffered a groin injury in Manchester City’s 3-3 draw with Newcastle on Sunday.
City fought back from 3-1 down to secure a point at St James’ Park, with Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva scoring the goals to get City back in the game.
Ilkay Gundogan fired City into an early lead, and for a time it looked like the floodgates could open. However, everything changed when Nathan Ake was forced off after 21 minutes. Ruben Dias replaced him, but he and John Stones looked shaky and should have done better with Newcastle’s opening two goals.
Ake was visibly upset when he walked off the field, understandably so. He has started all of City’s games so far this season and has been putting in impressive performances after enjoying a good pre-season.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola issued an update on his Dutch defender.
“I think it’s his groin,” the manager said when asked what issue Ake had sustained. When asked whether the 27-year-old could feature in City’s friendly against Barcelona on Wednesday he said: “Absolutely not.”
It remains to be seen how long Ake is ruled out for, but he and Guardiola will be hoping that he can return to the side for the visit of Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
