Foden and Bernardo goals secure vital win for City

Foden opened the scoring on 17 minutes with a superb solo goal and Bernardo doubled the advantage midway through the second-half.

The Blues have reduced Arsenal’s five-point gap at the top to just two, though the Gunners are in action later this afternoon against Bournemouth.

What happened?

The opening 15 minutes or so passed largely without incident other than an Ilkay Gundogan header that looped just over.

Newcastle were compact, organised and looked a threat going forward, but it was City who struck first with a goal on 17 minutes that nearly lifted the roof off the Etihad.

Moving forward with purpose, Rodrigo picked out Foden on the right flank - Foden immediately burst towards goal, cutting inside and then drifting past a group of static Newcastle defenders before firing a shot past Nick Pope to make it 1-0.

It was further evidence that Foden is back to his very best and also his fourth goal in three games.

Moments later, Sean Longstaff had the chance to immediately level as he shaped up to shoot from six yards out but was denied by a superb block by Nathan Ake.

It was proving to be a feisty encounter, with the referee allowing a number of ‘enthusiastic’ challenges to go unpunished for both teams.

Erling Haaland endured a frustrating first-half, closely marked by a number of defenders, he was limited to a couple of half-chances, one being a far post header that just dropped wide.

The game was proving to be a scrappy affair at time, littered with stoppages and a number of misplaced passes – City needed a second goal and on 67 minutes it finally came.

Bernardo had replaced De Bruyne just two minutes earlier when Grealish drove towards the box, was dispossessed by Kieran Tripper, but the ball moved on to Haaland who in turn fed Bernardo on the edge of the box and though slightly off balance, he still managed to curl a shot past Nick Pope to make it 2-0.

It was perfect timing by the Portuguese and came at a time Newcastle were looking increasingly dangerous.

City comfortably saw out the time that remained to secure an impressive and crucial three points against a team who have lost just three Premier League games all season.

Dias impresses again

It’s not only Phil Foden who has shifted into top gear at just the right time, Ruben Dias is also back to his very best.

Like Foden, he has struggled with injury since the World Cup and has had to wait for his opportunity to get back in the side.

Dias has been outstanding over the past month and adds a leadership and authority to the defensive line and he didn’t put a foot wrong against Newcastle with a committed display of controlled aggression from start to finish.

Ederson century

Ederson has now kept 100 Premier League clean sheets for City.

He became the third quickest to the landmark with his performance against Newcastle United in his 208th Premier League appearance.

SHOP OUR EDERSON RANGE

Ederson has won the Premier League Golden Glove in each of the last three seasons, sharing last year’s award with Liverpool’s Alisson.

Congratulations to ‘Eddy’ from everyone at Manchester City!

What it means...

City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to two points – at least for a few hours.

The Gunners take on struggling Bournemouth at the Emirates and will look to re-establish their five point lead at the Premier League summit.

Star Man

Phil Foden - a bundle of energy and inventiveness and wonderful goal to set us on the way.

Foden now has 12 goals this season and is joint second top scorer with Riyad Mahrez.

WATCH: City 2-0 Newcastle: Short highlights

Pep Reaction

“It was a really, really difficult game. We knew it, with the quality they have it is a threat and they will be a threat for the next five years because they have many good things.

“They control the ball well in transition, set-pieces.

“But yes a really good game, we defended really well. The solidarity between the two sides was amazing. We had our moments, they had their moments, but in the end the big actions for the two goals made the difference.

“Of course we had to defend, in these types of games you have to suffer. We didn’t lose our composure. That is the most important thing. we kept our momentum.”

What’s next?

City are next in action on Saturday, 11 March away to Crystal Palace.

The game will kick-off at 17:30 (UK) and will be screened live on Sky Sports.

Then the Blues are back at the Etihad on Tuesday 14 March for the second leg of our Champions League Round of 16 tie against Red Bull Leipzig.

That game will kick-off at 20:00 (UK).

Line-ups

CITY: Ederson, Walker, Ake, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), De Bruyne (Bernardo 65), Grealish, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Stones, Laporte, Alvarez, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis

NEWCASTLE UNITED:  Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Botman, Burn (Targett 87), Longstaff (Willock 63), Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson (Isak 63), Gordon (Saint-Maximin 62)

Subs: Dubravka, Ritchie, Manquillo, Murphy, Anderson

Milestones and stats

City have won our last 14 Premier League home games against Newcastle – the longest winning home run against an opponent in the competition.

City’s second goal against the Magpies was our 1,000th Premier League home goal.

Ederson has now kept 100 Premier League clean sheets with his shut-out

City have now scored in our last 29 Premier League games against Newcastle since a 0-0 draw in November 2006. It’s the longest goalscoring run one team has had against another in Premier League history.

City have won 15 of the last 17 Premier League home games (D1 L1), with the exceptions in this run coming in consecutive games against Brentford (1-2) and Everton (1-1) this season.