Soccer-Newcastle 'scared' City but then they 'scared' us back - McClaren

Oct 5 (Reuters) - Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren searched for positives and answers after his team's 6-1 drubbing by Manchester City, saying his side "scared" their opponents in the first half before Manuel Pellegrini's men decided to return the favour. Newcastle had not beaten City in the Premier League in 17 attempts before Saturday's game, but Aleksandar Mitrovic headed them ahead in the 18th minute at the Etihad Stadium. City appeared to be in danger of a third straight league defeat, with Newcastle looking the better team until Sergio Aguero burst into life with five goals, leaving Pellegrini cooing afterwards that the Argentine was in the same class as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Aguero's first goal just before the interval was the signal for Newcastle to retreat into their shells and the away team duly wilted in the second half, ending the game having conceded six goals in 21 minutes. They are at rock bottom of the league, and still searching for their first win of the season. McClaren's assessment was that his team were "nigh-on perfect" in the first half. "I think we scared them for 45 minutes and I think they scared us for the next 45 minutes," he said, quoted by the Chronicle. "I thought the first half was nigh-on perfect... If you'd have said to me at half-time that after an hour of the game we'd be 6-1 down, I'd have said you were absolutely crazy. "But that's what happened. We have to assess that and look at it. We have to find out why that is," he added. Whatever answers McClaren comes up with, Newcastle defender Daryl Janmaat was in no mood to offer up any theories of his own when asked about the nature of the defeat. "There are no excuses," he said. "He (Aguero) is a very good player but you can't allow him to score five times. No player should. "We needed to stop him." "We had a lot of supporters here (at the Etihad). I feel sorry for them," he added. "We are very disappointed, especially after the first half. It was really good and then in 10 minutes we lost the game. "We know it's tough in the Premier League... but you have to play 100 percent otherwise you get killed," the 26-year-old said. (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru)