Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle: 5 talking points as Pep Guardiola's Cityzens dominate Magpies | EPL 2019-20
The last meeting between the two sides was only ten days ago when Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-0 in order to proceed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Hosting the Magpies at the Etihad today, City dominated the game against a team that have exceeded expectations with their current mid-table position. Ending the game in high-scoring fashion - and without conceding - the Cityzens took home three strong points.
The game started with major waves of possession for Guardiola's men as Newcastle were content with sitting deep and defending for 90 minutes. Within 20 short minutes, Gabriel Jesus marked the opening goal of the game for the Cityzens, and it seemed all too easy. David Silva was on-hand to provide a flick-on into the box which Jesus pulled back from his marker to receive, and let a slow first-time shot creep into the bottom corner of the net.
Mahrez was quick to add to the Cityzens' lead with a sublime goal only minutes after as Newcastle's defence continued to unravel. Similar to the opening goal, the Toons seemed too slow to react as Manchester City meandered their way through into the goal again. This time, it was City's assist king Kevin de Bruyne who laid the ball on for Riyad Mahrez to slot in.
Newcastle eventually did foray into Manchester City's side of the field towards the end of the first half, but it was a short and limited moment that they didn't see much of for the rest of the game. In the second half, things went back to normal with City bossing the game and pulling strings, while Newcastle settled deep once more and waited for the impending series of attacks.
On the cusp of the hour, unreleting Cityzens overpowered - and broke through, getting yet another goal in the process. This time, it was Federico Fernandez who scored an own goal after a poor clearance from Matt Ritchie found the unfortunate defender.
Manchester City's fourth goal was a masterful freekick from veteran Spaniard David Silva that totally ignored the wall and saw Martin Dubravka rooted to the spot. Perectly positioned for Silva mere yards outside the box, the City captain jogged to the ball and whipped an unstoppable curl into the top left corner of the goal.
Refusing to back down, the hosts continued their unceasing battering of the Newcastle backline, and with 90 minutes on the clock, picked up their fifth goal of the game. David Silva, ever the creative maestro, picked up the ball after some sloppy Newcastle posession and laid it off for Raheem Sterling. The substitute wasted no time in slotting in his third goal in the last five Premier League games for City.
#1 Manchester City break a passing record
Manchester City completed an astonishing 93.7% of their passes. While these are sublime numbers, one can give some credit to Newcastle's laid back approach that saw the Mapgies remain their defensive zones and formation, rather than close down City players who were quite patient with their possession.
Adding that to the Cityzens' 74% possession and Newcastle's inability to string five passes together before losing the ball, it's clear to see how Manchester City could pick up that many passes. David Silva deserves a lot of credit for making a surreal 112 passes, while John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi also picked up more than a hundred passes each.
#2 David Silva was perfect today
The Spanish maestro wreaked aboslute havoc on the Magpies backline in a sublime performance that saw him pick up the Man of the Match award. Making 112 passes - and keeping 106 on target - the 34-year-old held all the creative strings in the midfield and in attack.
Kevin de Bruyne might be Manchester City's current king of assists, but David Silva would certainly give the Belgian a run for his money on a good day. Notably, the Spaniard has chalked up 121 assists in the 10 years he has spent at Etihad, which is breathtaking.
Today, he was Manchester City's major playmaker, and he also got himself on the scoresheet with a beautifully taken freekick. At 34, Silva is still setting the tone for a world-class team, and that's saying something.
#3 Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are unrelenting in attack
Manchester City continued this game with the same overwhelming energy, and attacking mentality that they've played - and succeeded with - for the last few seasons. Against fluid teams, they showcase a rapid, high-tempo, and direct style of play that flusters their opponents into conceding. Against teams that park the bus, like Newcastle did, they approach with a quiet patience and remain on the lookout to unlock opposing defences.
After the third goal, most managers would keep their team balanced and settled in order to see out the game with their strong win, but Guardiola chose to attack to the very end. Manchester City scored 5 goals against West Ham, 8 against Watford, 6 against Aston Villa, 5 against Burnley, and now, 5 against Newcastle. Having scored 86 goals so far in this Premier League campaign, it's quite clear that the attacking culture is set in stone at Etihad.
#4 Newcastle were poor in defence
Perhaps their plan to hold formation and push Manchester City's attack back would have worked on another day, but it certainly didn't work in this game. At times, the Magpies looked unable to stop Manchester City from breaking through the defensive line and causing havoc in the final third.
The defenders were slow to react, unable to shut down attacks, and unable to close up channels and holes within their lines. In many cases, their sheer number in the box did keep the ball out of the net, but they also made silly defensive errors that Manchester City capitalized on and punished them for.
#5 Youngsters are getting their chance under Guardiola
Phil Foden has been the name on the lips of many Manchester City fans across the world, especially after the 20-year-old scored two sublime goals against Liverpool in a recent game. While he was unable to find the net against Newcastle - having put all his four shots at goal off target - he still played well.
Another youngster on the field was Tommy Doyle who picked up his Premier League debut under Guardiola's tutelage at the age of 18. Doyle's debut was a warming sight to behold for the fans, many of whom had been monitoring the potential star's progress as well. Notably, he also picked a shot at goal in the limited time he spent on the field.