Newcastle United's hopes of a Champions League place were dented at the Etihad Stadium after goals from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.
The game seemed to swing on a substitution from Pep Guardiola after he introduced Silva mid-way through the second half - just at a time when Eddie Howe had thrown three subs on in Alexander Isak, Joe Willock and Allan Saint-Maximin to rattle City. And that seemed to be the difference in an intense clash.
United were left to rue missed chances in both halves as Manchester City inflicted defeat and extended their win-less top-flight sequence to a 19th match in these parts. The game could have been different had Newcastle not wasted some excellent chances in the first half and after the break.
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However, despite the glory of reaching the Carabao Cup final, Newcastle's Premier League form has suffered in 2023 with 14 points now dropped from seven matches and a Champions League place has been replaced with a Europa League slot.
Howe stated before the game he had no intention of parking the bus despite City's red hot home form and he was as good as his word. He opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Anthony Gordon preferred to Allan Saint-Maximin while Fabian Schar was missing through a head injury and replaced by Jamaal Lascelles.
Nick Pope was back between the posts after suspension with Loris Karius not even in the squad after the Carabao Cup final last weekend. Lascelles, making his first Premier League start since August against Liverpool, tried to set the tone with a crunching fair challenge on Erling Haaland early on but didn't take too long for Pope's goal to be tested.
The champions created a chance with just a minute on the clock as Kevin De Bruyne fed Jack Grealish down the left and his cross was headed over by Ilkay Gundogan at the back post but Pope looked like he had it covered. Newcastle got a sight of goal on 10 minutes when Gordon was sent clean through but he got his feet in a muddle at the crucial moment and the chance went begging.
Moments later, Bruno Guimaraes conceded a free-kick 20 yards from goal after fouling Gundogan to hand De Bruyne a chance from the set-play but he sent it high over the bar. The Brazilian avoided a yellow card and got away with a ticking off from ref Simon Hooper.
With 16 minutes gone, Rodri played in Phil Foden down the right with the England international gliding past Bruno and Dan Burn before his shot cannoned off Sven Botman and beat Pope. An immediate response from Newcastle saw Sean Longstaff get a sight of goal but his shot was blocked by Nathan Ake.
City poured forward again on 18 minutes but Foden's cross was blocked by Burn and Newcastle survived the resultant corner. Yet Newcastle reached the mid-way point of the first half only one goal down.
Guardiola's side continued to pose questions but Newcastle stayed in the game a little longer. On 36 minutes they even had the chance to equalise when Longstaff floated the ball over to Kieran Trippier who headed into the path of Callum Wilson.
Wilson could barely have asked for a better opportunity but skewed it horribly wide as he failed to get clean contact on the ball from close range. Almiron swept one wide after Bruno's pass on the stroke of half-time but the flag had already gone up for offside.
The teams went in for the interval with City ahead by the solitary goal from Foden. It was Grealish who fired the first shot of the second half at goal but his effort flew wide.
Joelinton was then booked for a foul on Rodri and will miss the next two games. Howe made that treble change on the hour as Isak, Saint-Maximin and Willock emerged from the bench and replaced Longstaff, Wilson and Gordon. The changes caused havoc as first Joeinton missed a good chance from Willock.
Then moments later, Isak wriggled into the box and forced Ederson into a good save low down after Ruben Dias had blocked. However, the game swung firmly into City's favour after Bernardo Silva came on to replace De Bruyne.
After Newcastle's Sweden international had floated a chance to the back post for Saint-Maximin the Frenchman headed into the palms of Ederson on 66 minutes, City then took full control.
After Trippier had lost the ball initially Haaland then swung the ball into the path of Silva who fired home and made it 2-0 from the edge of the box mid-way through the second half. The Portugal star teed himself up and beat Pope with a fine shot.
City fans instantly chanted the name of Guardiola knowing the ex-Barcelona boss had acted at the precise moment Newcastle were threatening to get back into the game. The game got feisty when Haaland and Burn squared up and both players were booked for their trouble by Hooper.
Almiron came off with 14 minutes left with Jacob Murphy getting a run out at the Etihad Stadium. Bruno was booked to hand City a free-kick but Grealish sent his effort over the bar.
Grealish played in Foden with five minutes left but Pope saved well low down. The home side then started to run down the clock - much to Newcastle's frustrations - with victory assured.
Murphy won a late free-kick in stoppage time but Trippier's curler was gathered by Ederson. And with that Hooper blew for one final time with the Magpies knowing the game had swung on missed chances and one Guardiola tactical switch.
The Magpies now have 14 games left to breathe life into their Champions League dream and will need to pick things up. Liverpool overtook Newcastle in fifth spot after thrashing Man United 7-0 at Anfield.
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