Premier League 2018-19, Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United: 5 talking points

#5 Walker’s goal was worthy of winning any game

Kyle Walker's goal was the bit of magic City needed to pull off the win today

When you’re faced with an overmatched but tremendously determined opponent – as City were today – sometimes you just need a bit of magic to allow you to pull through. It’s the kind of thing that separates a good player from a world-class player and can separate a title challenging side from the eventual champions.

Today, City had that bit of magic and it came from an unexpected source. Some observers were stunned last summer when Guardiola parted with around £54m to bring Kyle Walker into the fold from Tottenham, but by the end of the season, the general consensus was that the right-back had acted as one of the missing pieces at City and played a large role in their Premier League dominance.

Despite playing in 32 of City’s Premier League games though, Walker was never able to find the back of the net. That all changed today. A sweet bit of interplay from Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero found Walker free around 30 yards out, and he took one touch before firing a right-footed thunderbolt low into the bottom right-hand corner.

It was the kind of shot that you knew was going in as soon as it’d left the player’s boot – the kind of shot no goalkeeper in the world would’ve stopped. In a match that saw City struggle to carve out true chances, this was a goal worthy of winning any game, and Walker probably won’t score a better one in his career in Manchester.