All 21 Of Newcastle's Premier League Opening Day Fixtures

2. 2013-14: Manchester City

Date: 19 August 2013

Venue: Etihad Stadium

Result: 0-4

Starting XI: Krul; Debuchy, Coloccini, S. Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa; Ben Arfa (Sa. Ameobi), Sissoko, Tiote, Gutierrez (Anita); Cisse, Gouffran (Dummett).

Goals: None

Yellow Cards: Yanga-Mbiwa, Debuchy, Sissoko Red Cards: S. Taylor

Debuts: Dummett

Manager: Alan Pardew

What Happened?

The less written about this shambles the better. Yohan Cabaye reportedly refused to play after a £10 million bid from Arsenal was rejected and the nightmare only got worse for Alan Pardew. Newcastle were already 2-0 when Steven Taylor was shown a straight red card for a mindless forearm smash on Sergio Aguero just before half time. City, the eventual Champions, scored two more after the break to inflict Newcastle's heaviest opening day defeat. 

League Position: 20th

Was It A Sign Of Things To Come?

This was the first time Newcastle had found themselves on the bottom of the Premier League after the first round of fixtures. Pardew did rally the troops and seven wins from nine, including a first league victory at Old Trafford since 1972, had the Magpies on the cusp of the top-four. Then January came, Cabaye was sold to PSG by Joe Kinnear, Pardew was disgraced after head butting David Meyler during the 4-1 victory at Hull and Newcastle lost six consecutive matches in which they conceded 17 times and scored just once.

Final League Position: 10th