Manchester City moved to within two points of Arsenal after edging Newcastle United 2 to 1 in a tense Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The victory keeps the title race finely balanced ahead of Arsenal’s North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, piling pressure on the league leaders to respond.
City made a fast start and broke the deadlock in the 14th minute when Nico O’Reilly collected a pass from Omar Marmoush and unleashed a powerful left footed strike that beat goalkeeper Nick Pope despite a touch on the ball.
Newcastle responded eight minutes later. A corner delivery from Sandro Tonali eventually found Lewis Hall on the edge of the area, and the left back’s low shot took a deflection that wrong footed Gianluigi Donnarumma to level matters at 1 to 1.
The home side regained the advantage before half time. Erling Haaland delivered a looping cross into the box where O’Reilly arrived late to head home his second goal of the match in the 27th minute.
Despite trailing, Newcastle posed a constant threat on the counter attack. Dan Burn thought he had equalised late in the first half, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
After the break, the visitors enjoyed more possession and pushed forward in search of another goal, but clear chances were limited. City goalkeeper Donnarumma was called into action in stoppage time, producing a sharp save to deny Harvey Barnes from close range.
At the other end, Haaland missed a chance to seal the result when he was denied one on one by Pope, while Phil Foden’s follow up was also saved.
Newcastle’s frustrations grew as bookings were issued to several players including Joelinton, Kieran Trippier and Harvey Barnes during a physical second half.
Premier League pundit Alan Shearer said Newcastle delivered one of their strongest recent performances at the Etihad despite leaving empty handed.
“They had more possession, Newcastle. It’s probably their best performance at the Etihad for a number of years, yet they still come away with nothing. You could feel Man City getting edgy, all the talk has started already with both teams going for the league. Arsenal dropping points and the pressure being on City to take advantage of that and make sure they win. You could feel that the longer it went on.”
Steve McManaman described the match as a major night in the title race.
“What a result for City. It’s a great result. You can see from the reactions of the players and the bench, they knew what a big night it was. I thought Newcastle were excellent, they went down on their swords, they really tried. They just couldn’t manage that final moment, that final pass to really trouble Manchester City, but it was a wonderful contest.”
Matt Upson added that City’s ability to protect their lead proved decisive.
“Massive three points for City. After a blistering first half, they didn’t really get going in the second, but it’s been all about seeing the game out and managing this football match.”
The win lifts City to 56 points from 27 matches, two behind Arsenal on 58, setting up a crucial phase in the Premier League title battle.
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