City hammer 10-man Newcastle

20 August 2013 00:16

Manuel Pellegrini made the best possible start to his reign as Manchester City manager as the Blues cruised to the Premier League summit by beating 10-man Newcastle 4-0.

David Silva took just six minutes to open City's account with a close-range header.

Sergio Aguero added another before half-time, with Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri also on target after the interval, while Edin Dzeko was desperately unlucky not to open his account for the season too.

It was not entirely a trouble-free night for Pellegrini as he lost skipper Vincent Kompany to a groin injury.

Yet, compared to opposite number Alan Pardew, the Chilean's problems are minuscule.

Pardew was clearly furious that a bid from Arsenal for Yohan Cabaye was made public in the hours before kick-off, which effectively prevented the midfielder from being involved.

And when he sees the television replays, the Magpies chief should be equally annoyed with Steven Taylor.

Inexplicably, Taylor deliberately caught Aguero round the side of his head with a swing of his arm, right in front of referee Andre Marriner.

It was an obvious straight red card and considering the visitors were already two goals down, left them with no chance of salvaging anything from a sorry evening.

Having been forced to wait 48 hours to enter the battle, during which time their main title rivals had secured comfortable victories, City seemed intent on making a statement.

Source: PA