To say that Manchester City outplayed Newcastle United in the first half would be understatement to the point of absurdity. Every time the hosts went forward they looked like scoring, and it was a minor miracle that the match remained level as long as it did. Gareth Barry had a comedy miss from four yards out, David Silva had a goal ruled out for offside and there were a half-dozen other good chances before City finally broke the deadlock.
Manchester City vs. Newcastle: Final score 4-0 as City cruise
Manchester City might be out of the title race, but they can still play some pretty football, as evidenced by their mauling of Newcastle United on Saturday.
It took Carlos Tevez to do it. With the ball wide left, the striker sneaked past ersatz left back Jonas Gutierrez to meet Gael Clichy's low cross, bundling his shot past Robert Elliot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. City weren't finished attacking, and Edin Dzeko had a penalty shout turned down and a shot well saved before Silva grabbed a second goal right before the break, working space before slamming a shot into the bottom corner from a tight angle.
Facing a 2-0 deficit at the Etihad, Newcastle knew that the game was over unless they scored quickly after the break. They responded accordingly, putting more pressure on Joe Hart's goal than they had all game, but still couldn't get much traction, and it was City who scored next when Vincent Kompany flicked in Barry's pass with a deft backheel. The goal was so pretty that the captain didn't even bother celebrating.
Yaya Toure killed things off in the 69th minute by shooting in off James Perch, and that was pretty much that. City might be out of the title race, but they're still capable of playing some pretty decent football. That or Newcastle are bad.
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