Phil Foden on target again as Manchester City beat Newcastle United in Premier League

Phil Foden was on target again for Manchester City as the reigning Premier League champions defeated Newcastle United 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The England international made it four goals in three games after a mazy run into the Newcastle box ended with his strike hitting the back of the net – albeit via a big deflection off Magpies defender Sven Botman.

Newcastle had began to put City under some serious pressure in the second half only for Pep Guardiola's to break away on a counter-attack and make it two through substitute Bernardo Silva's fine finish.

The victory took City back to within two points of table-toppers Arsenal, although will increase back to five if the Gunners defeat struggling Bournemouth at the Emirates later on Saturday.

Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson and Joelinton were all guilty of not even forcing Ederson into a save as Newcastle suffered another blow to their hopes of a top-four finish.

It was Newcastle's third defeat on the spin, coming after a home loss to Liverpool and last week's League Cup final defeat against Manchester United.

The Tyneside club remain fifth in fourth in the table – four points fourth-place behind Spurs who are away to Wolves later in the day – but are now without a league win since beating Fulham on January 15, their only victory since December 26.

“I am very happy because it was a tough game. It was a tough moment in the game for us,” said Silva.

“They take more risks and they went for it so to score that [second] goal was very good. You know when you play Newcastle how good they are this season. They went for it because they need points. We knew they would press more and create more chances so the second goal was important for us.

“Phil Foden is so good, he is