Five Things We Learned: Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United (Premier League)

May 9, 2022 Paul Man City 0

Manchester City certainly answered their various critics in style on Sunday afternoon, by handing a thrashing to Newcastle United in order to return to the Premier League summit with a significant three-point lead over Liverpool.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Manchester City with a diving header in the first half, before Aymeric Laporte bundled home a loose ball to double their advantage before the interval.

When Rodri scored a header from a corner in the second half, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side was all but defeated and Manchester City turned their attention to simply boosting goal difference.

Phil Foden’s arrival was eventually followed by a fourth Manchester City goal before Jack Grealish fed Raheem Sterling to score his second of the game and his side’s fifth striker with practically the final kick.

That comfortable win means Manchester City now moves three points ahead of Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp’s men were held to a 1-1 draw with Spurs at Anfield 24 hours prior, and now have a superior goal difference.

Here’s what we learned from a comfortable but crucial win!

Raheem Sterling should start the final three

Even in probably his worst season since Pep Guardiola arrived at the club in the summer of 2016, Raheem Sterling has still notched up sixteen goals, five assists, and a handful of penalties won.

It’s been an up-and-down campaign to say the very least – one long dry spell culminated in transfer links to a loan move to Barcelona – but the form is temporary and Raheem Sterling is class.

He’s really hitting top gear in recent weeks, tearing both Watford and Leeds apart with his dribbling, and the reward today was his first Manchester City goal since March.

That close-range header aside, the England star was a thorn in Newcastle’s side all afternoon and offered a pacy directness that none of our other forwards can quite match. He was very unlucky not to get at least one assist, too, before finishing off a late counter-attack to wrap up the demolition he started.

This Raheem Sterling performance was comfortable to earn him a spot in the starting XI for the remaining matches against Wolves, West Ham, and Aston Villa – three teams you can see him doing well against.

Rodri is the set-piece King

One of the few weaknesses in Manchester City’s game under Pep Guardiola has traditionally been attacking set-pieces.

Occasionally, Nicolas Otamendi or John Stones would bundle one in, but for the sheer number of corners and free-kicks the team wins, it was frustrating to see so few of them amount to anything.

That’s all changed this season, with Manchester City scoring more set-piece goals than any other Premier League team.

Rodri – a very good candidate for Manchester City’s player of the season – is one of those to benefit from this transformation. His header on Sunday afternoon was the Spaniard’s sixth Premier League goal of the season and his second from a dead ball in just over a week.

Now, the question is how 6’4″ Erling Haaland would fit into such situations if he joins – something tells me the tallest striker we’ve had since Edin Dzeko would grab a few set-piece goals himself.

Kevin De Bruyne proves a point

Some of the criticism leveled at Kevin De Bruyne after Wednesday’s disappointment was quite bizarre. I mean, as if the guy’s not allowed to have one bad game against a big side.

The Belgian maestro was the whole reason Manchester City got past Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, after all, and his corner set Rodri up for the third goal on Sunday.

Against Newcastle, De Bruyne quite politely reminded everyone that he’s the best midfielder in the world.

Multiple passes of ridiculous quality picked Newcastle apart and, like Raheem Sterling, he was unlucky not to get an assist from open play.

This man has more goal contributions than starts since the Manchester Derby, and he’s a midfielder. It’s telling that comparisons to first Mesut Ozil, then Bruno Fernandes, quietly died out as KDB consistently outshone both players.

But he doesn’t get the title of my favorite assist of the game – that goes to Jack Grealish, who set up Raheem Sterling’s second with a lovely selfless pass at the death of the game. That deserves a mention as well.

Phil Foden’s late impact

With four games to go, Manchester City found itself in a situation where goal difference could well be a decisive factor in the title race.

Ten years ago, the club was in the same position, and eventually having a superior goal difference to Manchester United did prove crucial. Today, Manchester City played like they knew they may need to outscore their rivals again.

It was Phil Foden who came off the bench to drive that point home. The England star was aggressive and lively from his first touch, but he had to wait until the last few minutes to impact the scoreline.

First he swept home from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s pass, then an ingenious back-heel set Jack Grealish away to make the fifth goal.

That result took Manchester City’s goal difference above Liverpool’s by four, meaning Pep Guardiola’s side may well be able to win the title even if they lose one of the remaining three games.

Phil Foden’s fourteenth goal of the season set a challenge for Liverpool: score plenty in the last three games if you still want a chance at the title.

Makeshift defense gets the job done

When Ruben Dias limped off at half-time, I was concerned. When Fernandinho came on to replace him instead of Nathan Aké, I was confused. Things only got stranger from there, but the team held firm to secure another clean sheet.

Aymeric Laporte was the stand-out defender as he bundled home the second goal to put Manchester City in the driver’s seat. Beside him, the veteran Fernandinho refused to be outsmarted by Newcastle’s rapid forwards.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was reliable as ever at left-back, coming close to scoring, while Joao Cancelo deserves some credit for his clever assist before the opening goal.

Among it all was a Premier League debut for CJ Egan-Riley, who did his chances no harm with a composed, confident cameo.

Ederson made a good stop to deny Callum Wilson, putting him level with Alisson on 20 league clean sheets this season. He could be about to win the Golden Glove for the third season in a row, but it will all come down to the final three matches now.

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