That’s all for tonight. I’ll leave you with David Hytner’s report from the Etihad. Thanks for your company and emails - goodnight!
Post-match interviews
Rodri
“We showed the personality we have in the team. What happened in Madrid was incredible but football is like this. We had to wake up because we have another title to fight for.
“We know that set-pieces are important. We often play against teams who defend narrow, so we have to be effective in other ways. To be champions you have to be the best in different parts of the game.
“Emotionally, this is a vital win. The mood wasn’t very high, as you could see, but on Friday we switched on. I think we did unbelievable work here [points to his noggin] – sometimes that’s more important than the legs.”
Jack Grealish
“We always knew there’d be pressure on us today after what happened in the week but I think we bounced back perfectly. We didn’t really talk about goal difference but it’s common sense. The main thing today was to win the game.
“[Did goal difference come into your mind more towards the end of the game?] A little bit, but that’s football anyway – you want to score goals. Especially me because I haven’t had as many goals and assists as I wanted this season!
“We have to get back in tomorrow and prepare well, because we have another big game on Wednesday.”
"The personality we showed today was unbelievable" 💪
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 8, 2022
Jack Grealish and Rodri react to Manchester City's 5-0 win over Newcastle 🔊 pic.twitter.com/dmd4BF1grN
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It wasn’t all good news for City. Ruben Dias went off injured at half-time and must be doubtful for the upcoming away games at Wolves and West Ham.
Full time: Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United
City go three points clear of Liverpool after a feelgood thrashing of Newcastle. Raheem Sterling (2), Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Phil Foden scored the goals, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan were marvellous, and the margin of victory means that City’s goal difference is four better than Liverpool’s. That might yet be a factor.
Next up in this wonderful title race: Villa v Liverpool on Tuesday and Wolves v City on Wednesday.
GOAL! Man City 5-0 Newcastle (Sterling 90+3)
Raheem Sterling makes it five! Jack Grealish ran onto a beautiful backheel from Foden and played in Sterling, who finished emphatically across Dubravka. Lovely goal.
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GOAL! Man City 4-0 Newcastle (Foden 90)
Four for City. Grealish cuts the ball back to Zinchenko, whose low cross is turned in from close range by Foden. At first I thought it was a mishit shot from Zinchenko; now I’m not so sure. The hell City care.
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90 min “It is amazing how much better than the rest of the league City and Liverpool are,” says Joe Pearson. “Their combined goal difference is 130. Adding all the other positive GDs in the league gives you a total of 90. Simply astonishing.”
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89 min Targett is booked for a rugby tackle on Sterling.
88 min Wilson can’t connect properly with a fast low cross from Saint-Maximin. Newcastle have had some decent chances in the last 10 minutes or so.
87 min Aymeric Laporte is replaced by the teenager CJ Egan-Riley, who makes his Premier League debut. Just before that, Foden was denied by a very good challenge from Lascelles.
85 min “Have you enjoyed watching City win today?” says Ian Copestake. “I am trying to take the adrenaline-based high ground here.”
Ha. I love Jurgen Klopp, who in my exquisitely humble opinion is the best manager of his generation, but I thought he was all over the place last night.
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84 min: Chance for Newcastle! Murphy slips Wilson through on goal with an excellent pass. Ederson comes out and spreads himself to make a good save, though Wilson will feel he shouldn’t have given Ederson a chance. Moments later, Saint-Maximin shoots over the bar from the left side of the area.
81 min “There’s a good atmosphere in the ground but this was never a game City were going to drop points in,” says Peter Kane. “And as a Liverpool fan, yesterday’s outcome wasn’t amazing but we’ve always had our eyes on the back to back games at Wolves and West ham as the ones most likely to cause City problems. I firmly believe they are fragile under genuine pressure and will drop points in both of those games. Let’s see!”
They did win their last 14 league games in 2018-19, under all sorts of pressure from Liverpool, so I’m not sure how fragile they are. As you say, we’ll see!
79 min Newcastle make their final change, Jacob Murphy for Miguel Almiron.
77 min The second half has been a bit of a non-event.
75 min De Bruyne is booked for cynically taking out Saint-Maximin.
74 min The last two games have reminded Newcastle how far they have to climb. You’d imagine they’ll get there, but I can’t see them winning the title within four years of the takeover like City did.
73 min Laporte’s poor ball is nicked by Almiron. He plays in Trippier, whose dangerous cross is headed behind bravely by Fernandinho. The resulting corner is headed straight at Ederson by Lascelles, 12 yards out.
70 min Burn is booked for wrestling with Laporte before a corner is taken.
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69 min Two changes for Newcastle: Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier replace Chris Wood, who should have given Newcastle the lead many moons ago, and Emil Krafth.
68 min: Fine save from Dubravka! Grealish lays the ball back to Zinchenko, who whacks a fierce shot that is pushed over acrobatically by Dubravka.
67 min Grealish’s teasing cross is headed up in the air by Burn and pushed away unconvincingly by Dubravka, though he might have been fouled by Sterling.
66 min Here’s the Premier League table as it stands.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 35 | 66 | 86 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 35 | 64 | 83 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 35 | 39 | 67 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 35 | 14 | 66 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 20 | 62 |
65 min Joao Cancelo, who still has the nerve to call himself a full-back, hits a fierce long-range drive not far wide.
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63 min City bring on Phil Foden to replace Gabriel Jesus.
62 min “Afternoon Rob,” says John Potter. “Those people are small, the advertising hoardings are far away.”
De Bruyne flashed a left-wing corner to the near post, where Rodri got in front of Joelinton and steered an accomplished header past Dubravka. That’s an excellent finish.
GOAL! Man City 3-0 Newcastle (Rodri 61)
It is 3-0, and it’s yet another set-piece goal for Sam Allardyce’s side.
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60 min If it goes to 3-0 I think City will become goal-difference nutters for the remainder of the game, but for now they are managing the game quite carefully. That’s fair enough given what happened on Wednesday.
59 min And now Saint-Maximin, Newcastle’s liveliest attacker, shoots wide from the edge of the area. A half chance at best.
58 min “Yes,” says Matt Dony. “City will win the league this year. And next year, they’ll have Haaland. Gulp.”
We’ve seen with a number of players that it can take a while to adjust from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, so don’t be surprised if he only scores 60 goals next season.
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56 min Guimaraes shoots well over the bar from long range.
54 min “As a hopeful Liverpool fan,” says Bilal Ahmed Shariff, “it’s tough watching City…”
By contrast, being a Manchester United fan these last few months has been a dopamine riot.
53 min Second-half possession percentages: Man City 99-1 Newcastle. Yep.
52 min “I think the only thing in danger from Moyes’ West Ham,” begins Ian Copestake, “will be ball boys.”
Miaow!
51 min City are in complete control, though I suppose we said the same thing at approximately 9.47pm on Wednesday night.
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48 min “Sack Pep?!” WTFs Zach Neeley. “People have developed insane expectations. Last year City won the league and made it to the European final, losing 1-0 to another extremely strong team (and w his best player leaving injured. This year they’ll likely win the league again and would have made it to back to back finals if his team didn’t give up two stoppage-time goals. If you fire that manager you’re an incredible fool.”
It’s Tim Berners-Lee I really feel for.
47 min Sterling’s cutback hits a Newcastle defender and loops just past the far post. City look in the mood to massage their goal difference.
46 min City begin the second half. It sounds like Dias has a hamstring problem, so he must be a doubt for the away games at Wolves and West Ham.
Ruben Dias is coming off with an injury. Fernandinho replaces him. City are pretty short in defence now, with Dias, John Stones and Kyle Walker all injured.
“I don’t think those advertising hoardings are actually double-height,” says Joe Pearson. “I think they are staggered and just look like they are double-height on TV. You can see people in between the layers.”
That’s what they want you to think.
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“Please can we drop the pretence that City are going to drop any points in their last four games,” says Rick Harris. “They won’t. The champions will retain their title and save their season. I guess that buys Pep another tilt at the Champions League although any other top-flight club would surely sack him?”
I politely disagree. Real Madrid might sack him; I don’t think any other team in world football would. For a start, the man’s on course to win his fourth league title in five years and his 10th in 13!
I do think City will win the league but it’s not a sure thing – West Ham is a particularly dangerous fixture, especially as they are still in the hunt for sixth place. But that result last night makes a difference as it means City can afford to draw a game.
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Half-time reading
Half time: Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle United
No sign of a hangover for Manchester City, who are heading back to the top of the Premier League. Raheem Sterling’s 19th-minute header calmed them down after a slightly tentative start, and Aymeric Laporte made it two just before half-time.
Newcastle started well, and Chris Wood should have given them the lead, but by the end of the half they were begging for mercy.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 35 | 65 | 86 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 35 | 64 | 83 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 35 | 39 | 67 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 35 | 14 | 66 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 20 | 62 |
44 min And here are the City goals.
STERLING!!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 8, 2022
Raheem Sterling heads in the opener for Manchester City! 💥 pic.twitter.com/NFy5U9zzXi
TWO 👊
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 8, 2022
Dubravka can't get a hold of the ball and Laporte makes it 2-0 to Manchester City!! pic.twitter.com/vCzfkKZHEn
42 min “Now I understand why I struggled to see players at throw-ins and corners yesterday on the telly,” says Szabolcs Mikulas. “It is really confusing when the double-height advertising board shows an advert in similar colour to the player’s kit.”
Don’t tell me they’re doing it at other grounds as well. This barbarism must stop!
41 min City’s goal difference is now one better than Liverpool’s. This could yet be a factor if Liverpool win all their games and City lose one of theirs.
De Bruyne drove a right-wing corner to the edge of the area, where Gundogan twisted his body to crack a volley towards goal. Dubravka couldn’t hold it on the bounce and, though he bravely blocked Dias’s follow up, Laporte gobbled up the loose ball from six yards.
All concerned were onside, and the goal stands! Dubravka should have done better with Gundogan’s shot.
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GOAL! Man City 2-0 Newcastle (Laporte 38)
It’ll be checked for offside but I think City are going 2-0 up.
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37 min City are playing really well now. After another patient move on the left, Sterling hammers a cross towards Jesus that is intercepted by the stretching Burn. He’s had a good half.
35 min This is the top of the Premier League table as things stand.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 35 | 64 | 86 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 35 | 64 | 83 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 35 | 39 | 67 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 35 | 14 | 66 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 20 | 62 |
34 min City open Newcastle up with a beautiful passing move on the left. Eventually De Bruyne plays in Zinchenko, whose low cross just evades Jesus in the six-yard box. Burn (I think) did well to shepherd him away from the ball.
32 min De Bruyne, in the inside-right channel, lifts an unbelievable cross/pass over Lascelles to find Jesus at the far post. He takes a touch and is about to shoot when Burn pokes the ball behind for a corner.
31 min The impressive Gundogan whistles a long-range drive just wide. Dubravka flew across goal but was nowhere near it.
And with the ball out of play, Guimaraes is indeed booked for that challenge on Grealish.
30 min Guimaraes clatters Grealish, a very poor challenge. The advantage is played but I’m sure he’ll be booked if City ever lose the ball.
27 min “I’ll never forget the TWA advertising,” says Stephen, “especially when it was immediately followed by TWA…”
26 min: Dubravaka saves from Cancelo! Sterling cuts inside from the right and stabs a nice pass down the side to Cancelo. He rattles a shot from a very tight angle that is blocked at the near post by Dubravka. In hindsight Cancelo probably should have crossed that, a message that Jack Grealish is also conveying.
24 min: Newcastle have a goal disallowed! A deep corner was headed towards goal by Lascelles and hit Guimaraes in an offside position. It rebounded to Wood, who finished without fuss, but then the flag went up against Guimaraes. I think Lascelles’s header would have gone in had it not been blocked by his own teammate.
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22 min “The announcing crew on USA have just pointed out that City have won the last 12 league games at home to Newcastle,” says Joe Pearson. “Not as encouraging to Liverpool fans (like me) as your possession stat.”
Yeah but Newcastle got a 1-1 draw on this ground in February 2005, so what’s your point?
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Gundogan clipped a flat, angled pass to Cancelo, who made a superb run inside Saint-Maximin. Cancelo looped a clever header over Dan Burn to find Sterling, who stooped to head into the empty net from a few yards out.
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GOAL! Man City 1-0 Newcastle (Sterling 19)
City take the lead with a lovely team goal!
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17 min “I truly hope these live double height pitchside advertising hoardings don’t become a thing,” says Hugh Molloy. “Just too much. Once noticed, can’t be unnoticed. Sorry.”
Once noticed, can’t be unnoticed, you say. I HADN’T BLOODY NOTICED THEM AND NOW I CAN’T STOP LOOKING AT THEM SO THANKS A LOT FOR THAT. You’re right, they’re awful. I miss the simplicity of the old days, when Smirnoff and Campari hoardings sat side by side with an understated dignity.
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15 min: Chance for Cancelo! City aren’t playing that well but they could have scored twice. De Bruyne, on the left, produces a lovely left-footed cross to find Cancelo in space at the far post. He charges onto the ball and slices a half-volley wide from close range. Those half-volleys are never easy to take on the run, but for a player of his class, etc and so forth.
14 min Newcastle look confident and relaxed in possession, and if I were a Liverpool fan I’d be encouraged by this start. In fact, as I type, a little box on Sky Sports tell us that Newcastle have had 57 per cent of the possession so far. That’s an extraordinary stat.
10 min: Chance for Laporte! And now City miss an excellent opportunity. De Bruyne’s curling corner from the left found Laporte, who lost Burn quite easily but then volleyed over the bar from eight yards.
8 min: What a chance for Wood! Dear me, Newcastle should be ahead. Saint-Maximin has an age to pick out a cross from the right. He picks out Wood, who pulls away from Cancelo on the six-yard line but heads straight at Ederson.
8 min City have started pretty well, though Newcastle have had two or three periods of unflustered possession.
6 min ... and De Bruyne wobbles it wide of the near post.
5 min Grealish is fouled just outside the area by Guimaraes. The free-kick is close to the left edge of the area...
2 min A fast start from City. Gundogan plays give-and-gos with first Rodri and then Sterling before Burn steps across to make a good interception.
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1 min Peep peep! Newcastle kick off from right to left as we watch.
The players are out, Blue Moon is being sung. Manchester City are about to show us the life of the mind.
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A reminder of the teams
Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Sterling, Jesus, Grealish.
Substitutes: Steffen, Ake, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Foden, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Palmer.
Newcastle (4-3-3) Dubravka; Krafth, Lascelles, Burn, Targett; Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton; Almiron, Wood, Saint-Maximin.
Substitutes: Darlow, Dummett, Schar, Wilson, Ritchie, Trippier, Manquillo, Murphy, Gayle.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
On Sky Sports, Jamie Redknapp sums up the change in mood at the Etihad after Liverpool’s draw
“I couldn’t get hold of him for two days,” he says, pointing at his fellow pundit Micah Richards. “Today he comes bowling in singing ‘Blue Moon’!”
"Couldn't get a hold of him for two days, today he comes in singing Blue Moon" 🤣
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 8, 2022
Micah Richards says Liverpool's draw against Tottenham is a massive result for Manchester City 🔊 pic.twitter.com/Msb3rDUlHM
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Eddie Howe also speaks
“[Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier] are not ready to start, but it’s a massive lift to everybody to have them on the bench. The pressure’s on us today as well – we’ve got high expectations of ourselves and we want to come here and give a good performance.
Pep Guardiola speaks
“The mood is much better than yesterday, by far, and yesterday it was much better than the day before. That’s normal; it’s a question of time. It’s football, it’s life. We did many, many good things, it’s happened and that’s it… Liverpool’s result doesn’t change anything for us. We have to win our games.”
It’s a beautiful afternoon in Manchester, not the kind of conditions in which you want to be chasing the ball for 90 minutes.
Premier League results
The three 2pm games have just finished. It’s been another good day for Everton. This time last week they were five points adrift of safety; now they’re above both Burnley and Leeds with a game in hand.
- Arsenal 2-1 Leeds
- Leicester 1-2 Everton
- Norwich 0-4 West Ham
Post-mortem department
Team news
Four FPL-busting changes for City from the Bernabeu nightmare. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Iklay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish come in for Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden. Walker is injured; the rest are on the bench.
📋 TEAM NEWS IS IN! 📋
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 8, 2022
XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Grealish, Sterling, Jesus
SUBS | Steffen, Ake, Bernardo, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Foden, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Palmer#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/F6Y10pnfHn
Newcastle make three changes from last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool. Jamaal Lascelles, Sean Longstaff and Chris Wood replace Fabian Schar and the absent pair of Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock. The subs bench includes Callum Wilson and former City player Kieran Trippier.
🚨 TEAM-NEWS 🚨#MCINEW pic.twitter.com/ZOpP7rNwv6
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) May 8, 2022
Preamble
We all have different ways of trying to cure a hangover. A fry-up. Hair of the dog. Sleep. Anti-inflammatories. Korean pear juice. More hair of the dog. A bit too much hair of the dog. Shouldn’t you be going home now, that poor dog’s nearly bald FFS.
For footballers, there’s only one option - get back on the grass and hope for the best. Anyone who has experienced the life of the mind knows that Manchester City’s savage Champions League defeat to Real Madrid has the capacity to derail their Premier League title challenge. But it may well stiffen their domestic resolve, as it did three years ago when they recovered from a traumatic Champions League defeat to Spurs to win their last five league games and hold off a rampant Liverpool.
We’ll find out in the next few hours whether City’s heads are still at the Bernabeu. Their mood will have been boosted slightly by Liverpool’s draw against Spurs last night. It means City have a bit of margin for error; they can now afford to draw one their last four games. But they’ll be desperate to win today - partly to keep that draw in their back pocket, mainly to show they don’t have a hangover.
Kick off 4pm.
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