Man City vs Newcastle: O'Reilly double secures big win to ramp up pressure on Arsenal

Nico O'Reilly scored a brace to help Manchester City defeat Newcastle 2-1 at the Etihad, and close the gap on leaders Arsenal, who drew 2-2 against Wolves in midweek.

The Cityzens took control early, breaking the deadlock in the 14th minute. Following a fluid team move, Omar Marmoush drifted wide to draw the defense before slipping a clever pass to O’Reilly, who arrived on a perfectly timed overlapping run to lash a powerful left-footed strike past Nick Pope.

Newcastle responded well, however, and pulled level eight minutes later.

Lewis Hall capitalized on a loose ball following a corner, firing a speculative effort that took a heavy deflection off Rayan Aït-Nouri to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City restored their lead in the 27th minute through O’Reilly’s second of the night. Erling Haaland turned provider, lofting a pinpoint cross to the back post where the young midfielder rose above Kieran Trippier to power a header into the far corner.

Newcastle thought they had found a second equalizer before the break when Dan Burn headed home from a Sandro Tonali free-kick, but the goal was chalked off for a marginal offside.

The second half saw chances for both sides, but City held on for a vital win.