Manchester City moved three points to the top of the Premier League table with a convincing 5-0 defeat over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
Goals in the first half by Rahim Stirling and Aymeric Laporte ensured that Pep Guardiola’s team calmed their nerves before the game relatively early to take advantage of Liverpool’s mistake against Tottenham as they retreated in style from their failure in the Champions League midfield. the week.
Rodri added the third goal an hour after a corner by Kevin De Bruyne, before replacing Phil Foden and Stirling with his second goal of the match to emphasize his dominance, as City showed a strong performance in the second half of the sun in Manchester.
Player rating
Man City: Ederson (7), Cancello (8), Diaz (7), Laporte (7), Zinchenko (8), Rodri (8), De Bruyne (9), Gundogan (8), Sterling (8), Sterling (9), Jesus (7) , Grillish (8).
Subs: Fernandinho (7), Foden (7), Egan-Riley (none).
Newcastle: Dubravka (4), Krafth (5), Lascelles (5), Burn (5), Targett (5), Longstaff (6), Joelinton (6), Guimaraes (6), Almiron (5), Wood (5), Saint Maximin (6).
Subs: Wilson (5), Tripper (6), Murphy (6).
Match player: Kevin de Bruyne.
The dramatic defeat by Real Madrid provided an intriguing backdrop to the game and Newcastle really had a chance in the beginning – the best fell to Chris Wood.
But City created chances all the time and now they have little room for error, knowing that two wins and a draw from the remaining matches will be enough to keep the title.
Newcastle, with Callum Wilson and Kieran Tripier returning from a bench injury, missed the chance to move to the top half of the table and stay in 13th place.
Team news
Pep Guardiola made four changes from the defeat of Real Madrid. Jack Grillish, Rahim Stirling, Alexander Zinchenko and Ilkay Gundogan returned when Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Marez and Phil Foden retired.
Eddie Howe made three changes when Chris Wood returned as his focal point in an attack with Joelinton in the midfield. Jamaal Lasseles replaced Fabian Shar and Sean Longstaff replaced Jonjo Shelvey. Among the submarines were Callum Wilson and Kieran Tripier.
How Man City won the match
Come to think of it, Wood’s header eight minutes later was a key moment in the game. With Joelinton free behind him, the striker could only nod softly to Ederson. It was a bad pass.
Then came City’s opening goal, Laporte fired a volley before Joao Cancello ruled out such an attractive cross from Alexander Zinchenko’s cross.
Cancello did much better for Stirling’s goal, finding the striker from a grabbing pass from Ilkay Gundogan on the diagonal, and the Englishman did the rest up close.
Image: Rahim Stirling heads to Man City’s opening goal against Newcastle
Newcastle almost equalized right after Wood, but Bruno Guimaraes was offside when he came in contact with Jamaal Laskeles’ opening header from the corner.
But when Martin Dubravka failed to catch Gundogan’s fierce shot from a distance after being defeated until the rebound by Ruben Dias, before Laporte was forced to return, the result felt inevitable.
City, of course, gave Real Madrid a two-goal lead, but there would be no replay, Rodry nodded to the near post to make three per hour until Newcastle retired early in the second half.
The best chance for Newcastle fell to the rusty Wilson, as Ederson saved well with a clean striker, but Foden was the one who said his word, noting Zinchenko’s cross after a good job by Jack Grillish.
Image: Phil Foden celebrates after beating Man City 4-0 against Newcastle
And the last word was for Stirling, who stopped at Grillish’s pass to make five in added time.
Diaz’s loss from injury at half-time was the only disappointment for the hosts, after which Guardiola confirmed that his season was over.
Fortunately for City, despite Guardiola’s insistence before the start that they still have to win all their matches to claim the title, the reality is that they now have a place to move in this race.
Analysis: Man City in full control of the title race
Asked on Friday afternoon what answer he expects from his players, Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports: “I think we will perform well. I know we will play as we are. We will try to win the match by playing the best, that’s for sure. “
There were some anxious moments in the beginning and who knows what weaknesses could be revealed if Chris Wood did better with a free kick from close range in eight minutes. But what followed was an exhibition that highlighted why City is on top again.
With Jack Grillish and Joao Cancello providing the width, Rahim Stirling brought the cut, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan sprayed the ball around the Etihad. Even when the pace slowed in the second half, Newcastle was too much to handle.
The mood in the stands, supportive from the start, seemed to be helped by Anfield’s result the night before. This knowledge that City are no longer in a win or relegation scenario took some of the sting out of the match and gave them some leeway.
That was all they needed. The away matches against the Wolves and West Ham may not be clear. But four points from those two games will be enough to ensure that City can return here on the last day, knowing that victory will guarantee them the title.
Man City’s victory in statistics
- Manchester City have beaten Newcastle 28 times in the Premier League, now the most beaten by any team in the race.
- Newcastle are without a win in 32 away games in the Premier League against teams starting the day in the top two in the table – they have lost each of their last 17 similar matches.
- Eddie Howe lost all 12 Premier League games against Manchester City, the worst record of a 100% loss a manager has against a rival.
- Rahim Stirling scored his 50th and 51st goals in the Premier League for Man City at the Etihad Stadium, becoming only the second player to reach that total after Sergio Aguero (106).
- Joao Cancello made his 10th assist of the season. Man City is the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to have four or more different players, reaching 10 assists in all competitions.
Guardiola: The crowd helped Security issues
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Man City boss Pep Guardiola said he had no doubt that his team would recover from their disappointment with the Champions League in the middle of the week
“Just before the start of the match, I felt that the audience was disappointed, but not angry and upset about who we are as a team. Three more points and three left, one game competition. Our destiny is in our hands, win our matches and we will be there. “
Guardiola confirmed after the match that Diaz will miss the rest of the season due to injury, and Kyle Walker and John Stones are also not available for the remaining matches. “We only have three defenders for these three games, but we will try to do that.”
Fernandinho replaced at the back in the second half and can be expected to be called up against the Wolves on Wednesday night for a match he described as the final. Asked how important the veteran Brazilian will be, Guardiola said: “I would say a lot.”
He added: “Otherwise I will have to play CJ [Egan-Riley] or Luc Mbete, but in this situation this is not a problem. If Rodry has to play [at centre-back he will]. We have the academy. We have 13 players plus an academy. It is what it is.”
Howe: We had our first big chance
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Eddie Howe says he is disappointed with the way goals are scored by his Newcastle
“Manchester City can do this to anyone, they are so good. I thought the audience was very good for them, it was a very good atmosphere.
“We lost a player for the first goal and conceded two sets. When you consider all the ways they can score, it’s a no-no.
“Whenever you come here, you know you’re going to take chances. We had the first big chance of the game, unfortunately we didn’t use it.”
Grillish: We are in the driver’s seat
Speaking after the match, Jack Greenish said that Manchester City’s “perfect” response to their agonizing exit from the Champions League put them in the lead in the Premier League title match.
“We always knew there would be pressure on us, especially after the middle of the week,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. We were together as a unit, which was necessary.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed, we have to go back and work hard, because we have another big game on Wednesday.”
Image: Manchester City’s Jack Grillish (left) and Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes fight for the ball during a Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Date of the photo: Sunday, May 8, 2022
Grilish said the win against the Newcastle team in form was even more important after Liverpool were held in a 1-1 draw by the Spurs on Saturday.
“We played against a good team from Newcastle, which has been brilliant since January. Today was the perfect answer and a perfect performance,” Grilish added.
“We just have to go out and win every game, we are in the place of the leader. We can not…
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