Eddie Howe admitted his Newcastle United side ran out of steam as they exited the FA Cup at the fifth round stage following a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at St James' Park.

The Magpies made a brilliant start, going ahead through Harvey Barnes, but City would level the match up before half-time as Jeremy Doku teed up Savinho to score. 

Omar Marmoush then took the game away from Newcastle with a second-half brace, with the Egyptian now netting seven goals against Howe's men, half of his overall goal tally since joining City in January 2025.

Howe commended the start made by his players, but conceded that City took the game away from his side in the second half with consistent periods of possession. 

"Good start from us, really good for half an hour," he told TNT Sports.

"There's probably two things that happened. We couldn't sustain our start in terms of energy but they also played really well. We just have to accept that.

"I felt we maybe ran out of gas, certainly in the second half but also towards the end of the first half. You have to say they were a very good side.

"We needed the ball to try and generate pressure but we couldn't get enough of it."

Following their latest defeat to City, Newcastle have now lost four games in all competitions against the same opponent in a single season for the first time.

Their next match is at home to Barcelona in the Champions League, and Howe is aware that he will need all of their support ahead of a huge encounter on the European stage.

"The crowd were magnificent today," Howe added.

"They didn't have a lot to shout about after that initial period but they stayed with us and were cheering at the end.

"We will need them for the Champions League."