15 February 2025
Man City 4 Newcastle 0
It was the standout fixture of the weekend as two Champions League hopefuls met to try and capitalise on Chelsea’s defeat to Brighton the night before. Man City welcomed Newcastle to The Etihad, still trying to repair their season after being brought back down to earth too many times this campaign. The neutral was hoping for a goal-fest between the pair.
Not so much staying it, but ‘being humbled’ has occurred far too often for Pep Guardiola’s side this season. The hosts started on the front-foot but a brief glimpse of goal was wasted as Marmoush leathered his effort over the target. The visitors were struggling to get into their groove, which was inviting attacks from Man City.
In their current predicament, the hosts are willing to do whatever it takes to get back to their old ways. Ederson booted it downfield, which was poorly judged by Trippier, who was the last man. That allowed Marmoush to run clean through on goal and loft his effort over the advancing Dubravka to open the scoring in the game. His first goal in a Man City shirt.
It is amazing what a bit of confidence can do for a player. Gundogan was pulling the strings in the middle as he slotted a pass into Marmoush in the box. He cut onto his right foot and drilled a shot into the bottom corner, beating The Magpies’ keeper at his near post. In the space of five minutes, Man City had put themselves into a dominant position in the match.
Trippier was having an absolute nightmare against City’s Egyptian prince. He skinned the full back once again before playing it into the path of Haaland wide in the box. The Norwegian looked to cross from the byline, with Foden waiting at the back post to tap in. A superb sliding challenge from Burn cut it out but almost diverted it into his own net, narrowly missing the near post.
Newcastle were gifted a chance to assert themselves in the game when Gvardiol gave the ball away in his own half. Murphy found Isak with a pass and the striker made a bee line for the penalty area. He looked to get a shot away to the far corner but the sliding challenge from Stones got enough of a block on it to take it wide of the target.
Eddie Howe had the look of a man on the touchline who had been told he has to pick up the tab for his assistant manager’s tanning sessions, as his side were getting dominated right in front of his eyes. It was proving all too easy for the hosts. Savinho skipped past Hall, before rolling it into the path of an unmarked Marmoush in the middle. He slotted home to claim a first-half hat-trick.
During the break, The Magpies’ manager must have unleashed all his anger of news of his impending sunbed woes on his players, as his assistant sat in the corner going through lists deciding what nationality he was going to declare himself as. Rumour has it that most Newcastle fans have their back garden deckings done in a shade known locally as ‘Jason Tindall’.
After the interval the visitors started to show some attacking threat. They were passing the ball around with confidence near the Man City box, before it was threaded through to Miley. With the goal at his mercy, he drilled his shot straight at Ederson. The ease with which they opened up Guardiola’s side underpinned that the scoreline could not mask that this side was far from ‘fixed’.
This half was to turn into somewhat of a drab affair. The hooking of Willock and Trippier did not seem to leave The Magpies as open as before the break. Neither side found it easy to create any clear-cut chances at all. While that will have probably appeased Howe given the score, he should be concerned at how his team were unable to mount any sort of a comeback.
This is another new trait of Guardiola’s side as we are used to seeing them go for the jugular in such situations previously. That said, it is all too easy to take your foot off the gas when you have already won the game. The best thing that could have happened for the fans in the stadium was The Magpies getting a goal but they seemed unable to get a glove on the hosts.
Doku skipped past Burn in a wide position and motored down the touchline. As he looked to cross, it was deflected behind for a corner. Gundogan clipped it into the box, where Haaland flicked on at the near post. McAtee was completely unmarked in the middle to tap home and put the icing on the cake for Man City and extinguish any dreams of a comeback from The Magpies.
Newcastle should be concerned by their performance. If they are genuinely looking to challenge for the top four, they need to be competitive against their rivals. They had been handed a hiding in this one against a team struggling to rediscover its own identity. Not that The Magpies have a good record at The Etihad, but this season was the perfect chance to change that.
Man City took all three points and Marmoush headed home with the match ball. It was his first-ever hat-trick in his senior career. It will give the City fans hope that they have turned a corner but you need to be careful not to get carried away. Real Madrid have the chance to knock that out of them in midweek as they continue their Champions League play-off tie.
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