Manchester City Are Two Points Away From Arsenal After Defeating Newcastle

Manchester City reduced the distance between them and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League to two points by beating Newcastle United 2-0 on Saturday.

The goals were scored by Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva for the reigning champions, who were helped at the Etihad by a string of horrendous errors made by the visitors.

Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson, and Joelinton all contributed to Newcastle’s most recent blow to their chances of finishing in the top four.

With the aid of a deflection off Sven Botman, Phil Foden, 22, went past four Newcastle players in the 15th minute and scored his fourth goal in three games.

Naija News recalls that this weekend’s League Cup final loss to Manchester United prevented Eddie Howe’s team from bringing home the club’s first major trophy in 54 years.

Since December 26, they have only won once in eight league games, which has caused them to fall four points behind Tottenham in the race for a spot in the Champions League for the next season.

The Magpies were made to pay immediately for a recurring lack of effectiveness in Saturday’s game against second-placed Manchester City.

Howe made a quadruple substitution early in the second half, almost to the point where Newcastle pinned City inside their half.

One of the substitutes, Joe Willock, broke down the right and delivered a low cross that called for Joelinton to score, but the kick was missed.

Another substitute, Alexander Isak, was fouled by Ederson after Ruben Dias blocked the Swede’s original shot, and he immediately appealed for a penalty, which was eventually disallowed.

Pep Guardiola switched out De Bruyne for Silva to halt Newcastle’s progress through the City centre.

Silva was set up by Erling Haaland with the ball on the edge of the box, and with his first touch, he blasted low beyond Newcastle’s goalie Pope.

Newcastle’s momentum was dampened by the second goal, which allowed City to coast into the final frame and even had an opportunity to increase their lead when Pope made a low right-handed save of Foden’s attempt.

The game ended 2-0 in favour of City which left coach Pep Guardiola’s side in the second spot with two points below first-placed Arsenal who could increase the gap to five if they beat Bournemouth this evening. On the other hand, the defeat has pushed Newscast to the 5th spot, five points below 4th placed Tottenham.