Manchester City move within two points of Arsenal with Newcastle win

Manchester City piled more pressure on league leaders Arsenal with a routine 2-0 win over Newcastle at the Etihad stadium

Goals from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva in either half were enough for the CItyzens to reduce the gap on the Premier League table to just two points, although Arsenal still have a game in hand over them.

Manchester City came into the tie knowing anything but a win would put their title challenge in jeopardy, but they also knew Newcastle would be tricky customers after the 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture where the Cityzens had to come from two goals down to secure a point. 

Manchester City were not about to let that situation repeat itself and started the game on the front foot, coming within a whisker of taking the lead inside the first minute when Ilkay Gundogan could only guide his header over the bar from point-blank range.

They opened the scoring after 15 minutes through Phil Foden who is having a stellar end to the 2022/23 season. 

The Engllish midfielder went on a slaloming run through Newcastle’s defence before scoring via deflected shot. 

After the early goal, Newcastle came close to making an immediate comeback when Sean Longstaff found himself unmarked in the City box but was denied by Nathan Ake’s heroic block. 

Manchester City continued to dominate the match and starve Newcastle of the ball, but hardly made ay further inroads in the first half despite firing four more shots between their goal and the hal-time break, all of which were off target. 

In the second half, Newcastle looked a threat as they pressed for an equaliser, but instead Manchester City extended their lead after substitute Bernardo Silva scored within two minutes of being introduced with a brilliant effort from outside the box to make it 2-0 to the Cityzens. 

Manchester City’s second goal halted any thoughts of a fightback from Newcastle and the Cityzen’s saw out the rest of the match in relative comfort. 

They almost went 3-0 up when Foden almost added to his tally late on, forcing a save from Nick Pope late on. 

Manchester City’s win over Newcastle means that they cut the gap between them an Arsnal to only two points ahead of the Gunners’ match against Bournemouth putting pressure on the league leaders to deliver or raise the stakes in the Premier League title race. 

The clean sheet also set a milestone for Manchester City goalkeeper, Ederson, who recoded his 100th shut out in the Premier League after only five and a half seasons at the Etihad, putting him 17th in the all-time list of EPL goalkeepers for clean sheets. 

Phil Foden was brilliant for Manchester City once again, and was their best player for the third match in a row, as he continues his hot streak after resurrecting from a mid-season slump in form.