Manchester City extended their Premier League winning run to 18 games as they comfortably defeated Newcastle United 1-0 at St James’ Park.
Pep Guardiola’s men are now one win away from equalling a European record set by Bayern Munich of 19 league wins in a row, which was ironically set when Pep Guardiola was in charge of the Bavarian club. The Citizens also extended their lead over nearest rivals Manchester United to a massive FIFTEEN points, after the Red Devils could only draw at home to Burnley.
After sustained pressure from the away side, City deservedly took the lead when Raheem Sterling was played through by a fantastic Kevin De Bruyne lobbed pass and the Englishman took his opportunity to give his side the advantage. In a game which saw City have 78% of the possession and 21 shots on goal, the Citizens could only manage to convert one of their chances. It could be argued that a team better than Newcastle could have punished City for their lack of a cutting edge, and could have easily scraped a draw if Dwight Gayle’s late header hadn’t missed the target.
Sergio Aguero had twice hit the woodwork in the opening 30 minutes before Sterling’s solitary goal, with Nicolas Otamendi having to clear the ball off the line after Rolando Aarons had chipped Ederson off his line. De Bruyne also hit the post as City struggled to widen their numerical advantage. Despite the hosts showing plenty of ambition to salvage a point, Guardiola’s men held on for the victory.
Here are our player ratings from the match.
