Newcastle United vs Manchester City. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance52,127.
Match report and free highlights as Manchester City win their 34th game of 2021, breaking a new top-flight record; Pep Guardiola's men will be top of the Premier League on Christmas Day
Monday 20 December 2021 12:47, UK
Manchester City will be top of the Premier League at Christmas after they breezed past Newcastle 4-0 with Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling scoring the goals.
Newcastle made City's task far easier than it should have been by gifting them the opening goal - scored by Dias on five minutes - after a comical mix-up between Ciaran Clark and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Cancelo then netted his first Premier League goal of the season on 27 minutes with a rasping drive from the edge of the box. Newcastle had a strong penalty appeal waved away moments later when Ederson wiped out Ryan Fraser but a comeback never looked likely, especially when Mahrez tucked home City's third on 63 minutes following a VAR review. Sterling added a fourth late on, scoring City's 11th goal in their last two fixtures.
City have now won 34 Premier League games in 2021, setting a new top-division record for most wins in a calendar year and will top the tree on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile, Newcastle remain on 10 points, stuck in 19th place and have taken just five points from seven games since Eddie Howe was appointed.
If Newcastle had any chance of breaking City's seven-game winning run they had to rid their game of silly mistakes, something which has hindered them this season. It happened again in this encounter with just four minutes on the clock.
Dubravka needlessly conceded a corner after dwelling on Jamaal Lascelles' back-pass and, after Kevin De Bruyne's initial delivery had been half cleared, Clark inexplicably failed to intervene when Cancelo played the ball back across the six-yard box and Dias headed into the unguarded net.
The bulldozing Joelinton drilled a low shot just wide of the post to offer some hope for the hosts.
Newcastle regrouped swiftly after their uneasy start but City were playing with the handbrake on and moved through the gears midway through the half.
Cancelo combined with De Bruyne and Mahrez before leaving Joe Willock and Isaac Hayden in his wake and smashing a 27th-minute shot past the helpless Dubravka.
Fraser, much to his and the crowd's astonishment, saw appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Martin Atkinson after he had been wiped out by sliding 'keeper Ederson. VAR decided not to overturn the on-field decision.
Howe sent on Allan Saint-Maximin for Willock at the break after the Frenchman was deemed not fit enough to start. His introduction lifted the crowd but City started to put their foot down in search of the third goal.
It took a brilliant reaction save by Dubravka to deny Gabriel Jesus after Bernardo Silva had headed Cancelo's 53rd-minute cross back across goal, and the goalkeeper had to be at his best once again to palm away Sterling's curling attempt.
The third goal eventually came when Mahrez was on hand to skilfully sweep home Oleksandr Zinchenko's cross with a VAR review correcting an initial offside decision.
It was no damage limitation for a tired looking Newcastle and Sterling's strike from Jesus' cross rubberstamped City's dominance.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. Joao Cancelo finally opened his account for the Premier League season, scoring with his 38th shot on goal. And this was yet another performance to showcase his importance to this Manchester City machine, picking up his fourth assist of the campaign to help open the scoring. In truth, that goal was more to do with some horrific Newcastle defending than Cancelo's brilliance. That could not be said about his goal, which was a thing of beauty to find the top corner after swivelling past two challenges. He is a joy to watch.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe: "We shot ourselves in the foot. It was a big frustration. If there's one team in world football you don't want to chase the game against it's Manchester City and to do it so early made our task doubly difficult. I thought the rest of the first half, bar their second goal, was a really disciplined performance. We really minimised their goalmouth action. They were relatively quiet although they scored two goals that sounds like a contradiction. We looked a threat and should have had a penalty.
"I'm not the type of manager that looks for excuses or looks to blame the officials but it's another clear big moment in the game that has gone against us. I'm shaking my head at it. The goalkeeper is out of control, he's wiped Ryan Fraser out. It's a stonewall penalty. How VAR hasn't intervened is a really strange one for me.
"I think there's been one in every game. At that stage we were well in the match and you don't know what can happen beyond that point."
Man City boss Pep Guardiola: "It was a good result but not a good performance. The first half was one of the poorest we have had this season. We were not there. We didn't play in the rhythm we should play. Everyone gave more touches and lost the ball. We were lucky to score in the first few minutes. It was a misunderstanding from the Newcastle defenders and the second goal is a brilliant action from Cancelo - that made the difference.
"The second half was much closer to who we are. We have to try and improve. We have an obligation to play every single game at the highest level possible. I don't have a reason why we don't play good every time."
On the penalty incident: "Fraser didn't have the ball. The ball was with Cancelo. If Fraser has the ball it's a clear penalty but Cancelo had the ball so it's not a penalty."
Newcastle host Manchester United on Monday Night Football on December 27; kick-off 8pm. Manchester City host Leicester on Boxing Day at 3pm.
