Manchester City is finally back in the Premier League title race and has reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal to just two points. In the 2-1 home win against Newcastle, home-grown player O’Reilly appeared in a “new” role.
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola had a whole week to prepare for their upcoming opponents after their 2-0 win over Salford City in the FA Cup. However, their opponents had put in an impressive performance during the week: Newcastle dismantled underdogs Qarabag Agdam 6-1 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.
Perhaps that’s why the Skyblues started the game against their Champions League rivals wide awake. In an intense opening phase, City always seemed to be one step quicker. This was also the case in the 14th minute, when the favorites took the lead: Marmoush passed to O’Reilly, who thundered the ball into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Ait Nouri deflects unstoppably – Clever push from Ruben Dias
Newcastle had to shake it off briefly, but eight minutes later they scored a surprising equalizer: After a corner, the Skyblues cleared poorly, Hall shot from the second row – and Ait Nouri deflected the ball unstoppably for Donnarumma (22′). The home side reacted angrily to the unnecessary 1-1 and took the lead again just five minutes later. Haaland spotted O’Reilly lurking at the far post in the right side of the box, who coolly headed the ball against Pope’s direction of movement (27′).
The 20-year-old homegrown talent has discovered his scoring instinct: he had already scored his second goal of the season in the 3-0 win over Fulham on the previous Premier League matchday – and now added numbers three and four.
Newcastle remained courageous and had already celebrated another equalizer: Burn headed a Tonali corner past Donnarumma, who had misjudged the ball, but the Magpies’ defensive stalwart was narrowly offside after a clever push from Ruben Dias (42′). So the favorites went into the break with a narrow lead.
At the start of the second half, both teams neutralized each other, prompting both coaches to make their first substitutions: Newcastle’s lackluster national striker Woltemade had to make way, as did Willock, with Joelinton and Barnes coming on in their place. Guardiola, for his part, brought on Cherki for Marmoush.
Semenyo too hasty
The substitute City pro had more impact on the play, but Semenyo was too hasty with his finish after receiving his pass (64′). The game then flattened out noticeably and lived on its tension. Newcastle posed too little threat offensively, and even a long-range shot from Joelinton couldn’t remedy the situation (77′).
Shortly afterwards, Cherki played an outstanding pass to Ait Nouri, who had plenty of space in front of him and was allowed to penetrate the penalty area. There, however, the advancing defender apparently had too many ideas at once and carelessly stumbled over the ball (80′). In crunch time, the hosts cleverly played for time – and had a 3-1 lead in sight, but substitute Foden failed to beat Magpies keeper Pope (90’+1). It remained a narrow but deserved victory, which saw ManCity close the gap on Arsenal to two points with the same number of Premier League games played (27 each at this point).
Next Saturday (6:30 p.m.), Manchester City will be looking to secure their sixth competitive win in a row at Leeds United. Meanwhile, Newcastle, who are mid-table, are aiming for another big win in the Champions League in front of their home crowd against Qarabag on Tuesday.