Newcastle United suffered a 5-0 defeat against Man City as the Magpies were given a fresh reminder of how far they have to go to close the gap on the elite.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Aymeric Laporte doubled his side's advantage shortly before half-time. Further goals from Rodri, substitute Phil Foden and Sterling made it a comfortable afternoon for Pep Guardiola's side.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
READ MORE: Man City vs Newcastle highlights
Newcastle make it too easy for City
The odds were firmly stacked against Newcastle. Not only were the visitors facing a wounded animal, after City's devastating Champions League exit midweek, but Newcastle had never even won a top-flight fixture at the Etihad. This has not been a happy hunting ground for Eddie Howe, either, who had the longest 100% losing record a manager has recorded against a single opponent, Man City, and indeed a single manager, Pep Guardiola, in Premier League history.
However, just like in the reverse fixture, last December, Newcastle made it too easy and Howe's side were the architects of their own downfall with some soft defending at the back. City had already come close to breaking the deadlock through Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo in the opening stages when Guardiola's side eventually took the lead in the 18th minute. Ilkay Gundogan was free to send a lofted pass to the back post and Cancelo easily lost Saint-Maximin to head the ball across goal. There was Raheem Sterling to nod it in.
Newcastle's defending for City's second, in the 38th minute, was not much better. Again no one was picking up Gundogan as the midfielder met Cancelo's corner on the volley and Dubravka spilled the Germany international's effort into the path of Ruben Dias. Although Dubravka recovered to deny Dias, Laporte then knocked in the rebound to double City's advantage.
Newcastle, who showed City too much respect at times, never looked like getting back into the game and the visitors committed a cardinal sin after the hour mark after an unmarked Rodri made it 3-0 with a header at the near post from Kevin De Bruyne's corner. Newcastle were then easily cut open for Phil Foden's fourth late on before Raheem Sterling added a fifth.
Away end do Newcastle proud yet again
Even when City had an astonishing 99% possession in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, it was Newcastle fans making all the noise inside the Etihad as 3,000 Geordies chanted: 'Eddie Howe's black and white army!' on loop for several minutes. When Bruno Guimaraes harmlessly fired over with Newcastle's first effort after the break just a few minutes later, the away end responded by chanting his name and singing about his 'magic hat'.
Even when Rodri scored City's third, Newcastle supporters sang: 'E-I-E-I-E-I-O Up the Premier League we go!' It should not come as a surprise, of course, but that remarkable support again stood out in defeat, particularly when some City fans left before Foden and Sterling scored late on. Was it any wonder that Newcastle players and staff made a point of saluting the fans at full-time? Part-owner Jamie Reuben rightly paid tribute to that 'tremendous support week in, week out' and vowed 'we will come back stronger'.
Owners reminded of huge gap to bridge as City flex muscles
It may have been Newcastle owners' first game at the Etihad since the takeover, but it was certainly not the first time Amanda Staveley had set foot in the directors' box in East Manchester. In fact, it was Staveley who acted for former owner Thaksin Shinawatra when the club was sold to Sheikh Mansour in 2008.
Given the respective wealth of these clubs' owners, there were always going to be parallels drawn between these two sides. Newcastle, like City in those early days, have even brought in a marquee Brazilian of their own in Bruno Guimaraes and targeted proven Premier League players like the Citizens did.
While Financial Fair Play has changed the landscape - Newcastle will have to be particularly smart to climb the table - aspects of what City did have still served as a template of sorts. Staveley actually visited City's state of the art Etihad campus earlier this year and it clearly left an impact.
Newcastle want to one day build a similar training complex, which will house the first team, academy and women's team on one site. Even in the short-term, a photograph of a hydro pool at City's training campus was included in the design and access statement submitted to North Tyneside Council as part of the planning application to upgrade Newcastle's current Benton base this week.
Clearly, there is a lot of work to do off the field, but Sunday was another fresh reminder of the improvements required on the pitch to one day bridge that gap. It said it all that Guardiola had the luxury of introducing Fernandinho and Phil Foden from the bench while Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez were unused substitutes.
Allan Saint-Maximin's point proven but he still needs to do more
A French player giving an interview to a publication back home that causes an unwelcome distraction before a big game? A lot has changed at Newcastle United, but the build-up to this match felt like a throwback to a previous era.
The crucial difference being that Allan Saint-Maximin was not teasing a possible exit - far from it. The forward spoke positively about the club and Eddie Howe in his in-depth interview with So Foot but one particular quote made headlines for all the wrong reason after it was translated into English. "The day when I have a player capable of finishing, I will have seasons with 10-15 assists and I will change opinions," Saint-Maximin said.
A 'concerned' Saint-Maximin promptly paid a visit to Howe's office to explain what he meant in his mother tongue, that it was not a slight on the strikers currently at the club, and Howe was satisfied with his explanation. So much so, the Newcastle boss did not feel the need to fine him.
However, the squad did have to be addressed on Friday to ensure there was no fallout at a time when togetherness has been one of the secrets behind the Magpies' remarkable turnaround. There was no lingering ill-feeling, but you sensed Saint-Maximin was eager to make amends.
Although Saint-Maximin has not been at his best in recent weeks, or recent months for that matter, this was a timely opportunity for the 25-year-old to show that he can trouble one of the best defences around. With the eyes of the world on this game, it was a chance for Saint-Maximin to prove he has 'nothing to envy' from Liverpool star Sadio Mane as he claimed earlier this week.
Saint-Maximin's end product is often question but it was the mercurial forward who created Newcastle's best chance of the game when his pinpoint cross from the right found Chris Wood at the back post, but the striker tamely headed the ball into Ederson's gloves from point-blank range. It was a big moment in the game but, to truly go to the next level, Saint-Maximin needs to produce deliveries like this on a number of occasion over the course of a game.
Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier's return the sole positive
Training was already intense under Eddie Howe, but those sessions went up another level this week as Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier joined in with their team-mates after recovering from their respective injuries. Even the usually measured Howe could not help but admit it was 'incredible to have players of that quality come back into your squad'.
Others have certainly stepped up in the pair's absence - 10 of Newcastle's 11 wins this season have come without Wilson, after all - but these England internationals give this side another dimension. Indeed, last week's narrow defeat against Liverpool was a timely reminder of how much they were missed.
Newcastle lacked a threat from open play when Wilson's nous, pace and movement and ability to thrive off limited service were needed. It said it all that Newcastle's forwards were flagged offside a whopping nine times. From dead ball situations, meanwhile, Newcastle failed to win a single corner and failed to trouble Liverpool's defence despite winning 11 free-kicks. Trippier, of course, is one of the best in the business from set-pieces.
You can see why Wilson and Trippier, then, were greeted with a huge roar by the away end when they were introduced from the bench for the final 25 minutes against City on Sunday. With Newcastle 3-0 down, it was a welcome opportunity for the pair to make their first appearance since December and February respectively ahead of getting a further week of training under their belts.
Despite being out for so long, the pair made an immediate impact in the final third and Wilson was actually played in by Jacob Murphy late on but Ederson rushed out of the goal to deny the striker one-on-one. Newcastle will make signings this summer, but keeping Wilson and Trippier fit next season will perhaps be just as important.
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