Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-0 to maintain pressure on Arsenal

Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson in action with Manchester City’s Ruben Dias.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva scored as Manchester City kept up the pressure on title-rivals Arsenal with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.

City moved two points behind league-leaders Arsenal, who host Bournemouth later in the day.

The result was another blow to Newcastle’s top-four hopes with Eddie Howe’s side, who lost 2-0 to Manchester United in last week’s League Cup final, having recorded just win in their last eight league games.

Foden, who had been sidelined earlier this season with a nagging foot injury, put City ahead in the 15th minute with his fourth goal in three games in all competitions.

The midfielder showed remarkable control, weaving through four Newcastle defenders and into the box before his angled shot glanced off the outstretched foot of Sven Botman and past keeper Nick Pope.

Silva came off the bench in the 65th minute and the Portugal international scored two minutes later with a sharp finish past Pope after a flick from Erling Haaland.

The goal was City’s 1,000th in the Premier League at home with Pep Guardiola’s side the sixth to reach that milestone.

Foden’s return to form has given City a timely boost as they look to haul in Arsenal in the title chase.

He scored against Bournemouth last weekend before recording a brace against Bristol City in a midweek FA Cup fixture, with his scoring streak coming after what he called the lowest part of his career.

“Phil Foden is so good, he is one of those players who can score goals and win games for you,” Silva told BT Sport. “I am happy for him, he went through a difficult period with his injury so I am very happy to have him with us because he showed he can solve some of our problems.”

Haaland narrowly missed netting his 28th Premier League goal when he got his head on a long cross from Kevin De Bruyne that he nodded just wide in the 34th minute.

“There is a good team spirit at the moment,” Silva said. “We have had tough moments this season but we want to compete and do our best. It won’t be easy but we will fight for all of the titles we are still in.

“We’ll see, we can only focus on ourselves now, we cannot focus on Arsenal. We need to do our job because if we don’t it will not matter what Arsenal does or not.”