Nico O’Reilly scored twice as Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points with a narrow 2-1 victory over Newcastle at the Etihad.
Lewis Hall had equalised for the Magpies, who made the longest trip by an English club in Champions League history in midweek and ran Pep Guardiola’s side close for long periods in the game.
However, O’Reilly’s brace ensured the title race remains well and truly open ahead of the north London derby on Sunday.
O’Reilly at the double
It took less than a quarter of an hour for the deadlock to be broken. After picking up on the loose ball, Omar Marmoush found O’Reilly and the versatile City player fired home to give the hosts the lead.
The advantage lasted less than 10 minutes. From a corner on 22 minutes, the ball was cleared to Hall on the edge of the box.
The defender’s strike took a big deflection off Rayan Ait-Nouri before nestling into the bottom corner to bring Newcastle back on level terms.
O’Reilly doubled his and City’s tally for the evening just five minutes later, the England player leaping highest to nod home Erling Haaland’s chipped cross following some neat play from Antoine Semenyo.
Dan Burn then saw his header ruled out for offside before Marmoush twice went close to extend City’s lead.
After the break, Hall nearly caught out Gianluigi Donnarumma when he fired narrowly wide from a free-kick.
Newcastle were looking for a way back into the game but the best chances fell to City, Antoine Semenyo blasting over from a good position when a pass may have been the more suitable option.
Nick Pope denied both Haaland and substitute Phil Foden late on before Harvey Barnes drew a finger-tip stop from Donnarumma right at the death as City held on to make up valuable ground on the Gunners.
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