Something had to change, though.
Only struggling Wolves and Leeds United had scored fewer goals than Newcastle in the top flight before this game.
Record signing Nick Woltemade had cut an isolated figure, with little to feed off, particularly on the road.
Though Woltemade was away with Germany during the international break, Newcastle worked on different movements of the players around the forward, such as Barnes and Jacob Murphy, to try to bring out the best in him when he returned.
Newcastle certainly created chances on Saturday for Woltemade, who was foiled on three occasions by Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
But whereas Newcastle were once over-reliant on Woltemade, others have started to step up.
Not least Barnes.
The forward was guilty of a couple of big misses in the first half – even failing to hit the target with the goal gaping – and said he was not “the most popular man” at the break.
But not only did Barnes open the scoring with a fine effort from the edge of the area in the second half, he stepped up with a winner just minutes after Manchester City levelled through Ruben Dias.
Newcastle previously led against Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham only to lose.
But they did not crumble when Manchester City drew level or, indeed, after eight minutes of stoppage time were added on.
This was an evening when Newcastle won more tackles and aerial duels, and made more blocks than the visitors.
Though Manchester City dominated possession, which naturally skews the figure, Newcastle stood up and made nearly twice as many clearances (36) and limited the visitors to just four shots on target.
That defensive effort did not go unnoticed by former Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate.
“Out of possession they were top-drawer and made it so difficult when City tried to find those little pockets in between the lines,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Second half I thought they were the better team, kept on catching City on transitions and ended up scoring two fantastic goals by Barnes. What a game of football.”
