Manchester City bounced back after their 4-3 defeat to Liverpool last Sunday, securing a 3-1 victory over Newcastle at the Etihad, despite a scare from the visitors in the 67th minute, with Sergio Aguero scoring a perfect hat-trick.
The game appeared to be following a similar pattern that was seen in the reverse fixture on 28th December, where the ‘Magpies’ sat back and allowed the Premier League leaders to camp out in their final third, allowing City to dominate the first-half with 82 per cent possession.
Raheem Sterling had a goal disallowed in the 18th minute as the England international was rightly judged to be offside by the officials after he finished off a cross from the left-hand side.
However, the Manchester club would take the lead in the 34th minute although there was a bit of a debate over who scored the goal. Kevin de Bruyne whipped a beautiful cross from the left-hand side once again which Aguero had appeared to delicately guide the ball into the back of the net. Further replays casted doubt over whether the Argentine had in fact touched the cross, but the goal was officially given to the 29-year-old.
Pep Guardiola’s side made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute after Javier Manquillo was adjudged to have brought down Sterling in the box. Aguero comfortably hammered home the penalty, with Karl Darlow only managing to get his fingertips to the ball, which wasn’t enough to prevent the ball finding the back of the net.
- Newcastle revival -
That second goal seemed to shock the visitors into life as they made two substitutions in two minutes in an attempt to mix things up. Ayoze Perez and DeAndre Yedlin were brought on for Christian Atsu and Javier Manquillo, who left the field holding his ribs.
It wasn’t long after the substitutions that Newcastle grabbed their first goal. In the 67th minute, the ‘Magpies’ won the ball in a dangerous area and a beautiful through ball from Clark eliminated all the City defenders to leave Jacob Murphy free on goal, who chipped it cutely over Ederson to stun the Etihad.
Guardiola could be seen to be visibly frustrated at his team for not killing the game off when they had the chance, but the Spaniard needn’t have worried as Aguero made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute. Leroy Sane did all of the hard work, dancing past a horde of Newcastle players, who couldn’t get close to the German, before cutting the ball back for the Argentine who finished off the easy enough tap-in.
The victory means that Manchester City maintain their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League, after rivals Manchester United also won 1-0 against Burnley on Saturday. As for Rafa Benitez's side, the loss moves them closer to the relegation zone, despite remaining in fifteenth, as Stoke City beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 on Saturday to push Southampton down to eighteenth with 21 points, two less than the North-East club.