ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Raheem Sterling scored a goal in each half as Manchester City romped to a 5-0 win over Newcastle to go three points clear of Liverpool at the Premier League summit with three games remaining.
All eyes were on how Pep Guardiola’s side would respond to their midweek ordeal at Real Madrid, where they crashed out of the Champions League despite leading by two goals on aggregate heading into the final minute of normal time.
Despite the boost of title rivals Liverpool drawing 1-1 with Tottenham on Saturday, there were some nervy moments for City, although they were settled by Aymeric Laporte capitalising on a Martin Dubravka error seven minutes before half-time —Sterling having found a 19th-minute breakthrough.
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Rodri headed home a left-wing corner from man-of-the-match Kevin De Bruyne after the hour and goals by substitute Phil Foden and Sterling in the dying minutes gave City a four-goal advantage over Liverpool on goal difference.
Crosses from the right-wing were City’s undoing at the Santiago Bernabeu and they were again vulnerable in that area early on, with Newcastle striker Chris Wood tamely botching a header from Allan Saint-Maximin’s centre.
The opening goal came via the aerial route. Ilkay Gundogan chipped a ball to the on-rushing Joao Cancelo who, having blazed an earlier chance over, nodded across goal for Sterling to head in.
Wood had the ball in the net from a corner but was offside and there was no VAR reprieve for Dubravka, who spilt Ilkay Gundogan’s strike from De Bruyne’s set-piece and was not adjudged to have control of the ball from Ruben Dias’ follow-up as Laporte smuggled home.
Rodri was on hand for a crisper corner conversion, darting to the near post to head in, although Dias’ half-time withdrawal through injury had done nothing for City’s defensive solidity.
Veteran midfielder Fernandinho was a makeshift replacement and did brilliantly to thwart Callum Wilson from Kieran Trippier’s cross after Laporte needlessly ceded possession.
Wilson and Trippier returning from injury as substitutes was probably the highlight for Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, who saw Ederson deny the former one-on-one.
City then gave their visitors a lesson in ruthlessness – first as Foden tucked in Oleksandr Zinchenko’s pass in the 90th minute. That came after Grealish tormented Trippier and the £100m man laid on Sterling to emphatically complete the rout.
Sterling hits Man City goals landmarks
Sterling did not make the starting XI for either leg against Real Madrid but left no doubt over his importance to this City side with an all-action performance — bookending the scoring and typically never giving the Newcastle defence a moment’s peace. The opener was Sterling’s 50th Premier League goal at the Etihad Stadium, making him the second player to that figure after Sergio Aguero. The same effort also saw him replace Aguero as City’s top Premier League goalscorer of the Guardiola era.
De Bruyne banishes Madrid misery
There will arguably have been no City player more disappointed over how things unfolded in midweek than De Bruyne. He was unable to impact matters after Madrid went ahead because he had already been substituted and could have few complaints after a below-par performance. He was back to his best against Newcastle, surging through the midfield repeatedly early on and looping one utterly improbable pass to Gabriel Jesus — one of an astounding six chances he created for teammates during the match.
Dias adds to Guardiola’s defensive woes
City’s manager will welcome the three-point cushion over Liverpool for several reasons, but it looked pretty handy as his team finished the game with a youth-team debutant and a 37-year-old midfielder as their centre-back pairing. CJ Egan-Riley enjoyed his maiden Premier League outing alongside Fernandinho, who replaced the injured Dias at half-time. City’s defence might not look too much different to that at Wolves on Wednesday after Guardiola confirmed at his post-match news conference that Dias (hamstring), John Stones (thigh) and Kyle Walker (ankle) are all out for the season.
Nathan Ake, who was apparently no more than a decorative presence on the bench on Sunday, is also struggling with an ankle problem and could target a return at West Ham next weekend. It adds up to another intriguing sub-plot in the final straight of the title race.
Sources:Sportingnews.com