Manchester City cruised to victory in their home game against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, with January signing Omar Marmoush stealing the show.
Manchester City were looking for a return to winning ways after their midweek defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League, and that they got, courtesy of a first-half hat-trick from Omar Marmoush.
The January signing from Eintracht Frankfurt scored with three well-taken goals within the opening 33 minutes of the game to set City up for a memorable home and much-needed win against the Magpies.
After the break, Newcastle looked more stable at the back and gave City a few issues to deal with, but never anything too strenuous for the home side who added a fourth late on through substitute James McAtee.
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Man City player ratings vs Newcastle United
Ederson – 8/10
Ederson was heavily criticised against Real Madrid in the week. But some of his passing in the first half against Newcastle was exquisite, including an assist for one of Marmoush’s goals. Second half Ederson had a couple of saves to make which he did so with ease.
Rico Lewis – 7/10
Lively in defence. Never looked threatened down that left side. Linked up well with Savinho at times an provided overall energy in the backline. Offered himself for passes throughout.
Abdukodir Khusanov – 7/10
Looked pretty composed throughout the first 45. Didn’t have a whole lot of actual defending to do but held his position well and moved the ball around as necessary. Still a lot of room for improvement but the Uzbeki is taking positives steps.
John Stones – 7/10
Like Khusanov, Stones didn’t have a whole lot of defending to do in the first half, although the England man did make one or two key interventions to keep the Magpies at bay. Organised the defence and kept Khusanov in check.
Josko Gvardiol – 7/10
Saw a lot of action in the opening stages. Got forward well and pinged a couple of really nice long balls. Some of his passing in the second half wasn’t as pinpoint, but a decent overall performance from the Croatian.
Nico – 9/10
Looked very comfortable and confident from the off. He made some good interceptions and passes in both halves and brought a real air of calm and steadiness to the side, replacing the presence of Rodri on his full debut for the Cityzens. Broke up a lot of Newcastle attacks before they ever got going. Great performance for Nico.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10
Didn’t really get involved in too much attacking play but did grab himself a nice assist for Marmoush’s second goal, with a lovely weighted pass. Kept play ticking over throughout, if without doing anything overly impressive in the game.
Phil Foden – 7/10
Put himself about but like a couple others on the day, Foden probably didn’t get involved as much as he’d have liked. Tried to make things happen but little came off for the England international.
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Omar Marmoush – 10/10
Unbelievably clinical in the first half. Before his goals he looked a bit sloppy on the ball, but he came up good with three first half goals and some good overall play too. Bit quieter in the second half but a Man of the Match performance nonetheless.
Savinho – 8/10
Ran the channel well and got a deserved assist in the first half, although he should’ve done better with one sight on goal he had. Overall tough, Savinho was a real thorn in Newcastle’s side whenever he got on the ball, which was admittedly much less in the second half.
Erling Haaland – 7/10
Ran hard and gave the Newcastle defenders little time to rest. Fashioned a couple of good chances but ultimately couldn’t himself involved in the goal action. Came off towards the end with what looked like a knee injury, but didn’t seem to be in too much pain when he came off.
Substitutions: Jeremy Doku (6), James McAtee (7).
