Jack Grealish praises Newcastle United after Man City's 'perfect response' to Real Madrid defeat

Manchester City's Jack Grealish paid tribute to Newcastle United’s great escape this season but insisted his side had put in a perfect performance. United were beaten 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium and have slipped out of the top 10.

After playing a key role in the rout at Eastlands, Grealish felt his side were on course for another title he said: "Newcastle have been brilliant since January. Today was a perfect response and a perfect performance.

"We just have to go out there and win every game. We're in the driving seat. We can't look at what's going on around us. Fingers crossed.”

Reflecting on the game overall he said: “We knew there'd be pressure on us today after the defeat, we bounced back perfectly. We've stuck together which was needed. We'll try to end the season strongly and we did that today."

On whether they have talked about boosting their goal difference: "It wasn't really spoken about but it's common sense. We want to win the league so we see it ourselves. The main thing was to get the win. You can't speak about goal difference before you've won the game.