Premier League – Round 4: Manchester City renews victory and sinks Newcastle (2-1)

Held in check by Wolverhampton last weekend (1-1), Pep Guardiola’s Citizens have gone ahead by dominating a poorly scorched Newcastle squad (2-1). Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker scored the goals of the Mancunians who are two miles behind Liverpool and Chelsea.

After the festival offered on his turf against Huddersfield (6-1) a fortnight ago, Manchester City was not as prolific this Saturday against Newcastle. His win (2-1) was more laborious, reminding (a little) of the draw (1-1) conceded to Wolverhampton a week ago, but the main one is there for the Citizens before the international break.

The first indicator of the level of performance of this Manchester City is obviously Pep Guardiola. And it was enough to see him, scowling in the first 45 minutes, then waved in the second half, to understand that his team, where Mahrez had been lined up as a holder also in a 4-4-2, n had not yet digested the failure experienced during the third day.

24 shots for only 2 goals

The plan of Newcastle was very simple: operate against and muzzle the opponent with a low block. But it’s the aggressiveness of the Sky Blues that paid off with the second goal of the season Raheem Sterling- on the fourth pass of Mendy this season – following a loss of ball visitors in front of their surface (1-0, 8e). Like David Silva, who missed only the last move today despite his 5 shots, City picked up (16th, 18th, 27th) before seeing Yedlin level on the only shot from the players. Rafael Benitez in the first half (1-1, 30).

"It's nice to get on the scoresheet. We adapted the system today and that helped me to get forward a bit more, so it was enjoyable out there" – @kylewalker2 #MCINEW pic.twitter.com/c3GEtnoPws

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 1, 2018

Tense, the Citizens saw Walker, a missile, unblock the situation early in the second period (2-1, 52nd). His first goal in 52 appearances with the Mancunians. But they continued to dominate sterilely (64th, 67th, 71st, 90th + 1), while Newcastle was scared only by Joselu, in the 88th minute of play, before the entry of Vincent Kompany who could celebrate by a major victory his ten years at the club.

1 – Kyle Walker has scored his first goal for Man City in all competitions in his 52nd appearance for the club. Wallop. #MCINEW

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 1, 2018

Car City has “just” lacked precision, scoring only twice in 24 attempts, and aggressiveness on some defensive phases. He remains two points behind leaders Liverpool and Chelsea. It’s a safe bet that Pep Guardiola will try to correct these little details during the international truce. Because otherwise, it may give some hope to Lyon in view of the Champions League.