Man City top at Christmas after win over Newcastle

Manchester City will be top of the Premier League at Christmas after they breezed past Newcastle 4-0 with Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling scoring the goals.

Newcastle made City’s task far easier than it should have been by gifting them the opening goal – scored by Dias on five minutes – after a comical mix-up between Ciaran Clark and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Cancelo then netted his first Premier League goal of the season on 27 minutes with a rasping drive from the edge of the box. Newcastle had a strong penalty appeal waved away moments later when Ederson wiped out Ryan Fraser but a comeback never looked likely, especially when Mahrez tucked home City’s third on 63 minutes following a VAR review. Sterling added a fourth late on, scoring City’s 11th goal in their last two fixtures.

City have now won 34 Premier League games in 2021, setting a new top-division record for most wins in a calendar year and will top the tree on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, Newcastle remain on 10 points, stuck in 19th place and have taken just five points from seven games since Eddie Howe was appointed.