Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United – Match Review
Manchester City ended Newcastle’s 11 match unbeaten record at the Etihad Stadium running our 3-0 winners to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
Two defensive errors from Ryan Taylor gifted penalties gifted goalsto Mario Balotelli and Micah Richards before Sergio Aguero’s spot kick wrapped the game up as City saw off a spirited display from the Magpies who grabbed a late consolation from substitute Dan Gosling. The win maintained City’s own unbeaten record as they made it 11 league wins out a possible 12 although it could have been different if the visitors had converted a number of chances during the game. Alan Pardew’s men went into the fixture off the back of a superb start to the season that had seen them equal the records set by Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ in 1994/95 season. Going toe-to-toe with Roberto Mancini’s men was always going to be a tough task considering the Italian boss has seen win every game on home soil. The City express is certainly starting to build speed although they were made to sweat for 40 minutes as Newcastle threatened to upset the apple cart and go into half time unscathed. The Geordies have garnered a reputation of being side that is difficult to break down and they lived up to that as the hosts struggled to penetrate a back four starting it’s 12th consecutive game together.
Few would have even predicted that Newcastle would be awaiting their first league defeat in mid-November and they showed why they have had superb start to the season as they thwarted City’s attack at every opportunity. The home side were lacking the inspirational talents of David Silva, who was on the bench, but they still had the talents of Mario Ballotelli to call on. The enigmatic Italian went closest to putting them in front only to see his powerful header tipped over by Magpies keeper Tim Krul. Pardew’s side also had a chance of their own soon after with Demba Ba seeing snap shot saved by Joe Hart after being played in by a neat ball from the returning Hatem Ben Arfa. The striker then contrived to head Yohan Cabaye’s corner wide from six-yards despite standing unmarked in the penalty area his profligacy came back to haunt the visitors soon after. A flowing City move saw they ball find Yaya Toure in the penalty area with his shot striking off Taylor’s outstretched arm giving referee Chris Foy no option but to point to the spot. It was the Balotelli who stepped up to cooly slot the ball beyond Krul on 41 minutes before crossing his arms and glaring at the keeper in apparent celebration. That lead was doubled four minutes later as the unfortunate Taylor got into a muddle trying to cut out Aguero’s ball allowing Richards to sneak in and scuff the ball home to put a huge dent in Newcastle’s hopes of extending their unbeaten run.
To their credit the Magpies didn’t let their heads drop and after a few inspiring words from Pardew came out for the second half determined to get themselves back into the game. However shoddy finishing would once again cost them with Ben Arfa the width of a post away from halving the deficit. The mercurial Frenchman was making his first league start of the season on the ground where City midfielder Nigel de Jong broke his leg just over a year ago. He almost marked the occasion in style picking Vincent Kompany’s pocket before gliding through a sea of sky blue shirts only to see his effort rebound back off the post with Hart beaten. The visitors were well on top and had more chances to score with Fabricio Coloccini volleyed wide from 12-yards before Danny Guthrie saw his shot blocked by the legs of Hart after driving into the City penalty area . It would prove costly to those wearing black and white as Mancini’s men were given the chance to wrap the game up once and for all. David Silva, seconds after coming on, bamboozled the Newcastle defence with a delicious reverse pass into Richards who was bundled over by Ben Arfa in the area. Aguero stroked home the resulting penalty to confirm the Geordie’s first defeat in 14 games – a record stretching back to last season. The travelling support were given reason to celebrate though as Gosling turned the ball home from close range after Ba’s shot was saved.
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