Manchester City have now made it two months without a loss in any competition, following their 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon. Whilst it was far from a vintage performance for The Blues, Manuel Pellegrini will have been pleased by his team’s resilience whilst picking up the three points that sends the Manchester side to the top of the Premier League – until Arsenal’s visit to Aston Villa tomorrow, at least.

Some may say that the ability to go away to a tough ground like Newcastle and grind out the win despite playing as poorly as City did is a quality befitting of champions, but the Chilean manager will be keen to see his team improve on this performance in this week’s FA Cup game against Blackburn Rovers. Both teams fielded a strong side in this clash at St James’ Park, and there wasn’t too much between them on the day, with The Magpies getting the better of the play.

The game started in fantastic fashion for the visitors, with Edin Džeko able to give The Citizens the lead after just 8 minutes. David Silva threaded a very nice ball through the defence between the right-back and central defender, which was met by a sprinting Aleksandar Kolarov, whose low first-time cross was well-placed to find the Bosnian striker, who got under the ball to put it past Tim Krul and into the back of the net to give City and early lead.

Undoubtedly the game’s most controversial moment came in the 34th minute. Following a Newcastle corner, which was cleared out to the lurking Cheick Tioté, the Ivorian sent a thundering shot back into the box, which flew into the City net for a marvellous equaliser from fully 30 yards. Despite the goal being originally allowed, and the midfielder running off to celebrate in his dug-out, referee Michael Jones conferred with his linesman on the far side, before adjudging the goal offside, thanks to Yoan Gouffran interfering with play just before the storming shot flew past Hart. Most believed this to be a harsh decision, and Alan Pardew understandably felt very hard done-by following this decision.

Nevertheless, Newcastle continued to press for an equaliser for much of the game – both in the remainder of the first-half, and in the second – but to no avail. Following Džeko’s early goal, The Magpies were able to control much of the play and possession, limiting the amount of chances given to Manchester City’s star-studded team. Joe Hart was able to pull off a number of fine stops, not least from Loïc Rémy’s superb volley after a mix-up in the City defence.

Samir Nasri also looks set to be out for several weeks, following a very bad challenge from defence Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa in the second half. The French international let his countryman get away from him, before trying to unsuccessfully take down the midfielder, then sliding in from behind and kicking the attacking player twice whilst the defender was mid-slide. Depending on reports, Nasri could be out for anywhere between a month or nine.

Despite being on the back foot for much of the game, City were able net a second in the closing minutes, as Spanish striker Álvaro Negredo continued his fine form, admittedly with a large chunk of luck. The former Sevilla man was put through on goal and the flag stayed down, but as Negredo took his shot, Krul got out to meet him, and where it not for the ball to bounce back off Negredo and towards the goal past a helpless Krul, the chance would have gone. It wasn’t a day of beauty for Manchester City, but certainly a win that the fans will take.

The supporters will also be boosted by Argentina’s Sergio Agüero’s reported comments to ESPN, regarding his fitness. The striker has been out since his side’s 6-3 win over Arsenal in mid-December, but believes he should be back fully-fit for Cardiff City’s visit to the Etihad Stadium next weekend, and could even make an appearance in Wednesday’s FA Cup Third Round Replay against Blackburn on the same ground.

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About the author
Ben Warner
Manchester City writer for VAVEL and others; press man for Maine Road FC.