Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva both struck as Manchester City maintained their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Newcastle.
Foden opened the scoring at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after a superb run before Silva came off the bench to secure the points from a feisty encounter in the second half.
Foden’s brilliant 15th-minute effort, albeit coming with the aid of a deflection, gave the champions a deserved interval lead but Newcastle, looking to get back to winning ways after a poor run, fought back.
The Magpies were the dominant side in the early period of the second half and it took the arrival of Silva, who scored within moments of coming on, to settle City’s nerves in the 67th minute.
The win put City just two points behind Arsenal, who had the chance to respond in their later game against struggling Bournemouth on Saturday.
Foden’s strike took the sting out of Newcastle’s game and what has been a fine campaign continues to look like it is running out of steam.
As well as losing last week’s League Cup final, Eddie Howe’s side have now gone five Premier League games without a win.
Yet as Newcastle tire, Foden appears to be getting going.
The England midfielder has endured a frustrating few months since the World Cup due to injury and illness but he has now scored four goals in the past three outings.
He made his mark when he took a Rodri pass in his stride and cut inside from the right before jinking his way through the area.
He enjoyed a slice of luck as his shot took a nick off Sven Botman and beat Nick Pope but the goal was nevertheless the work of a man back in form.
Newcastle upped the tempo after the break and enjoyed a good spell of pressure but were unable to make it count.
Joelinton fluffed a good chance and Ederson saved at the feet of Alexander Isak, who had joined the fray along with Allan Saint-Maximin and Joe Willock in a triple attacking substitution.
At this point City boss Pep Guardiola decided to make a change himself and it paid immediate dividends with Silva pouncing barely two minutes after replacing Kevin De Bruyne.
Grealish made a cutting run towards the Newcastle area and Erling Haaland laid off for Silva to rifle home first time from the edge of the area.
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