The game begun in lively fashion with chances at both ends, with Newcastle’s Chris Wood missing a great chance to take a shock lead. City then attacked continuously until they broke the deadlock with a close-range header from Raheem Sterling after 20 minutes.
A second goal for the Citizens came from the unlikely source of defender Aymeric Laporte. Following some calamitous goalkeeping from Martin Dubravka after a City corner, Laporte struck home from mere yards out to double the lead.
City began the second half in even more dominant fashion, with several attacks on Dubravka’s goal. They eventually made it three when Rodri powered home a strong header from Kevin De Bruyne’s corner.
Phil Foden added a late fourth after having come on in the second-half from the bench after tapping home from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s strike.
Raheem Sterling rounded off the rout with a well-taken fifth goal for the hosts as Newcastle fell to a heavy defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
The comfortable win extended City’s lead at the top of the Premier League to three points after second-placed Liverpool succumbed to a 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Saturday evening.
Here’s how City Xtra rated the players from Manchester City’s win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon –
Ederson – 7
Was there in the right place to grab City’s second and looked competent at the back for the Sky Blues too. An assured display at the back from the Spaniard.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7
Although not the first choice at left-back usually, Zinchenko gave another mature and solid performance to help his side gather a much-needed clean sheet. He also grabbed an assist from Foden’s late strike.
Rodri – 8
Colossal in controlling the game in the midfield for City. As quite often is the case, when Rodri plays well, City play well.
This solidity was key today to ensure no mistakes were made in the neck-and-neck title race with Liverpool. He marked this performance with a brilliant header in the second-half.
Gundogan – 6.5
Showed increased energy levels today with some good tracking back in the middle of the park as Newcastle occasionally broke forward.
Kevin De Bruyne – 8 (MOTM)
The most creative player on the pitch as usual, always looked the most likely to summon up the performance that City needed. His ball to Jesus alone was sensational after 31 minutes and he was unlucky not to get an assist for it.
He eventually got an assist in the second-half; delivering a wicked corner straight onto Rodri’s head.
Jack Grealish – 6.5
Kept his head up high after the Champions League disappointment in Madrid on Wednesday and played well, drawing a few important fouls in the final third.
Raheem Sterling – 8
He just loves scoring past Eddie Howe’s teams. Sterling broke the deadlock with a close-range header. He played well on the right wing, causing headache for the Newcastle backline all game with his quick twist and turns and bagged a late second to round off City’s rout in style.
Gabriel Jesus – 6
After a goal fest for the Brazilian last week, Jesus was quieter against Newcastle. He looked lively in the box but came off for Foden – showing that it just wasn’t be the forward’s day.
Substitutes –
Fernandinho – 6.5
Tasked with playing at centre-back like he did for the 2019/20 season after Ruben Dias went off injured at half-time.
The Brazilian looked comfortable enough in defence, especially with a headed clearance after 72 minutes, but was rarely challenged by the Magpies in truth.
Foden – 7
Wasn’t involved massively since coming on but did add a fourth for the Blues in stoppage time.
He didn’t look like he was carrying any sort of hangover from midweek despite the young England international playing the full 120 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Egan-Riley – N/A
Wasn’t on long enough to make an impression or impact on his Premier League debut.
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