Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United: Three critical points from the game

Manchester City defeated bottom-table Newcastle United at the Etihad. The AArgentinean forward Sergio Aguero stole the show in the contest.

Newcastle came in to the fixture following a 1-1 draw  against Swansea City at the weekend while the Citizens were on a mission to respond to their unbeaten streak being ended by Liverpool at Anfield earlier.

On this note we evaluate three main talking points from the game.

Impeccable Leroy Sane

The Manchester City forward was exceptional in all regards. He made his presence count in the match. 

Sane posed a threat with his dashing runs and dribbling. He made the difference when he set-up Sergio Aguero for the third goal of the match to make it 3-1 to Manchester City after Newcastle had received a life line in the game, pulling a goal back to make it 2-1.

Sane has been on the rise under Guardiola, and there are no signs he is slowing down.

Aguero’s landmark against Newcastle

The Argentine showed his class against Newcastle with a hat-trick.

Newcastle are old cronnies of Aguero’s – he has so far bagged 13 goals in 7 games against the Baggies. He delivered yet again. And it would be a safe bet he will do it again next time the two sides meet.

In the first round tie he was not on target as City won narrowly won 0-1 courtesy of Raheem Sterling at S.t James Park during the festive period.

Total dominance from City

The Manchester City side produced a champions responce to their defeat to Liverpoo, by dominating Newcastle.  Their technical and tactical superiority barely gave the Baggies a chance to play with the ball – only 20% of the game time in fact.

Domination came from City’s midfield trio Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and David Silva. 

City was back to what they’ve been doing prior to their first defeat of the season, and Guardiola couldn’t be more happy about that as they close in on the Premier League title. The Catalan boss reckon they only need about 10 wins till the end, and by the look of it, they’d get it earlier than expected.