5 takeaways from Manchester City's win over Newcastle United

Manchester City went 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League with their 18th successive win, beating Newcastle United 1-0 at St James’ Park on Wednesday night. Raheem Sterling’s impressive form in front of goal continued as his first-half strike proved the difference.

Newcastle, on the other hand, were brought back down to earth after victory over West Ham this past weekend, and in truth, the margin of victory could have been much greater. But with crucial games against relegation rivals on the horizon, the Magpies have bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks.

Here are five talking points from a freezing night on Tyneside.

#1 Newcastle didn’t allow themselves a foothold in the game early enough

It was hardly a shock that Rafa Benitez parked the bus, because his Newcastle side are defence-minded at the best of times. Their lack of quality has been well documented this season, so going toe-to-toe with City was never really an option from the start. But it wasn’t until after Sterling opened the scoring on the half-hour mark that the Magpies pushed on and had a chance themselves; Rolando Aarons attempted to chip Ederson after Kyle Walker slipped, but Nicolas Otamendi headed off the line.

From then, the crowd were able to get in on the action, and once they raised their voices, Newcastle raised their game a little more. Most, if not all, Premier League sides sit deep against City; early on they were able to pick off any attempt the home side made to get forward.

When they did push on, particularly when they got set pieces, Newcastle were left a little exposed, but they were still unable to stop the Guardiola’s men pushing through at ease in the first half, with 15 attempts on goal registered. Without Dwight Gayle, Christian Atsu and Matt Ritchie, all heroes in the win over West Ham, on the bench, there was little cutting edge for Newcastle.

#2 Rafa Benitez’s plan became clearer as the game went on

Newcastle United v Manchester City - Premier League

Given his love of rotation at the best of times, it was not a surprise to see Benitez make changes, especially with two crucial games at home to Brighton and away at Stoke coming up. Early on, it seemed as though Newcastle only wanted to keep the score down and move on. Jonjo Shelvey, back in the side after a two-game ban, shot at goal straight away from kick off; it was rather bizarre because it surrendered possession without threatening Ederson’s goal.

Jacob Murphy and Aarons grew into the game as it went on, but Atsu and Gayle came on after the break and that made a difference for Newcastle. Mohamed Diame made forward forays when he got the chance, Shelvey started to play it into more dangerous areas because Gayle made runs that Joselu, who started the game, simply wasn’t able to.

Benitez saw that pressing early would have opened the game up even more. It was crucial to introduce the substitutes and get the crowd excited at the right time; they could have paid off too, Gayle went close with a header and City’s defence did begin to feel the pressure.

#3 Kevin de Bruyne – the quiet magician

Sterling may have opened the scoring with his 13th goal in the Premier League and 17th in all competitions, but it came from Kevin de Bruyne’s incision. The Belgian is favourite to win Player of the Year at the end of the season and for good reason; he and Ederson are the only two to play every minute in the Premier League because they hold the keys to Guardiola’s philosophy.

De Bruyne controlled the game, picked so many little passes that allowed City to breach Newcastle’s low block, almost rendering it pointless. City have played in the same way all season, no matter the opponent, location or condition because of De Bruyne’s ability.

He dropped deep and picked spaces up, then pushed forward to create them himself. It was all so effortless and no Newcastle player could get anywhere near him. City missed a lot of chances and should have put the game to bed and quite a few were created by him; Newcastle couldn’t handle the one-twos in the first half, and De Bruyne crashed the post from distance in the second half.

#4 It really wasn’t Sergio Agüero’s night

It feels like Newcastle have had many scourges over the years and Sergio Agüero has definitely been one of them. The Argentine striker had scored seven goals in his last three meetings with the Magpies and, on paper, there was an ideal opportunity to add to it. But of all those missed City chances, Agüero was the culprit with a fair few and that gave the home side foothold in the latter stages of the game.

Had Agüero put his team ahead in the early stages, it would have been a different story. Instead, though, he hit the post after connecting well to a brilliant cross-field pass by Fernandinho.

Later, he forced Rob Elliot into action with a brilliant point-blank save after connecting with a De Bruyne free kick with a powerful header. His frustration was evident when he was substituted in the second half.

#5 Newcastle caused the referee some trouble

The home side may count themselves lucky that City didn’t dispose them in the first half, but they were perhaps fortunate not to go down to ten men in the first half when Murphy went in high on Ilkay Gündogan. Referee Andre Mariner decided against showing a card at all; perhaps a yellow card would have sufficed but he was lucky to get away with it.

In the second half, too, Gayle was booked for a blatant dive when he could have got a shot away. Other than that, though, Newcastle simply weren’t aggressive enough in key moments of the game to warrant anything from the game. With Brighton, Stoke and Swansea on the horizon, they must change their approach.