Manchester City ease to win over Newcastle to take charge of Premier League title race

Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League after easing to a 5-0 win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium. The hosts, looking to bounce back from Wednesday’s Champions League exit to Real Madrid, dominated throughout and were 2-0 up by half-time thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Aymeric Laporte, added to after the break by Rodri and Phil Foden and a second for Sterling.

Ad/> Both sides missed glorious opportunities early on, with Chris Wood’s tame header easily saved for the visitors, while Laporte and Joao Cancelo blazed off-target at the other end. City were starting to turn the screw though and took the lead on 19 minutes as Sterling nodded home after Cancelo had headed Ilkay Gundogan’s brilliant ball back across goal.

Premier League'It's been difficult' — Grealish reflects on his own Man City performances4 HOURS AGO From then on, the hosts never looked back, dominating possession and controlling the game comfortably. They had a second on 38 minutes as Gundogan’s brilliant volley from the edge of the area was fumbled by Martin Dubravka, who, although blocking Ruben Dias’ rebound, could not prevent the ball being bundled home by Laporte.

Newcastle struggled to get their foot on the ball after the break, with City enjoying 99% of the possession in the opening seven minutes of the second half. It was no surprise, then, that a third was not too far away as Rodri brilliantly headed home Kevin De Bruyne’s corner at the near post.

After that, the hosts eased up a touch, although there was still time for Dubravka to pull off a stunning stop from Oleksandr Zinchenko, diving high to his left to tip around the post. Dubravka could do nothing about City's fourth, as substitute Foden swept home from close