Man City defeats Newcastle in the EPL to tighten on Arsenal

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With a 2-0 victory over Newcastle on Saturday, Manchester City rode their luck to reduce the distance between themselves and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League to two points.

The goals came from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva for the defending champions, who were absolved at the Etihad by a string of egregious errors from the visitors.

In order to avoid forcing Ederson into a save, Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson, and Joelinton all contributed to Newcastle's latest setback to their aspirations of finishing in the top four.

Although displaying flashes of their greatest play in recent weeks, City needed two inspirational moments to salvage a crucial three points from a fragmented effort.

Following the World Cup, Foden battled with his form and conditioning, but the England international has started to resemble his pre-World Cup self lately.

The 22-year-old outsmarted four Newcastle defenders to beat Nick Pope on the 15th minute and score his fourth goal in three games with the help of a deflection off Sven Botman.

Newcastle's first full season under Saudi ownership, which held so much promise, is starting to lose its luster.

After falling to Manchester United in the League Cup final last weekend, Eddie Howe's team missed out on winning the club's first major trophy in 54 years.

Since December 26, they have only won once in eight league games, which has caused them to fall four points behind Tottenham in the race for a spot in the Champions League for the next season.

The Magpies were made to pay immediately for a recurring lack of effectiveness.

Longstaff ought to have responded very immediately, but the midfielder took too slow to react, allowing Nathan Ake to make an outstanding last-ditch block.

Newcastle has scored just one goal in their previous eight league games, and Wilson's goalless streak is the reason why. He also failed to connect with Kieran Trippier's cross.

Erling Haaland also failed to score for the sixth time in eight games on the other end.

Just before halftime, the Norwegian missed a chance to increase his lead in the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot when he headed Kevin De Bruyne's cross wide.

Early in the second half, Howe made a quadruple substitution that almost had the desired result as Newcastle pinned City inside their own half.

Joe Willock, one of the substitutes, made a break down the right, and his low cross begged Joelinton to put the finishing touch on it, but he missed his kick.

Alexander Isak, one of the substitutions, had a penalty appeal denied moments later after he was eliminated by Ederson after Ruben Dias stopped the Swede's initial shot.

De Bruyne was replaced by Silva by Pep Guardiola in an effort to stop Newcastle's movement through the City middle.

The goal scored by the Portuguese immediately calmed City's concerns.

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