NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) – A magnificent strike from midfielder Julian Alvarez handed Manchester City a 1-0 win over Newcastle United in their first home game of the 2017 Premier League season, capping off an evening of celebrations at the Etihad Stadium for last season’s treble.
The Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup trophies were all exhibited on the pitch before kickoff, and City easily outplayed Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, who had their own title hopes dashed early in the season.
Pep Guardiola chose Phil Foden to replace the injured Kevin De Bruyne, and the 23-year-old England international delivered a man-of-the-match performance as he took on the load of generating chances for the champions.
After a half-hour of dominance by the home side, Alvarez broke the stalemate in the 31st minute when Foden picked him out on the edge of the box, and the Argentine fired a powerful effort across Nick Pope and into the net.
Newcastle upped the speed in the second half, but City had the better chances, however striker Erling Haaland looked out of sorts, failing to score despite a number of chances created for him by Foden.
The visitors finally began to apply pressure in the final 15 minutes, but despite improved attacking play, they still struggled to create attempts on goal.
Substitute Callum Wilson squandered a wonderful counter-attack by picking Rodri’s pocket in midfield, but he couldn’t create an angle for a run on goal, and when the shot came for Harvey Barnes, it didn’t concern Ederson.
City almost added a second when Foden flashed a late shot across goal, but his team held on for back-to-back league victory to begin the season, extending their home record to 17 wins in all competitions.
“I enjoy playing in there, and hopefully in the future I’ll be able to pick up more games there and show people what I can do,” Foden said of his playmaker role in a TV interview.
“The manager spoke to me several times, telling me to be patient, saying, ‘You always train very well and work hard, and you’ll get your opportunities in the future,’ and now I’m living up to them, and I’m more than happy.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had few complaints after his team was outplayed for the entire 90 minutes.
“It was a challenging game, like we expected. They’re a top-tier group. “We tried our hardest to execute our plan, and we did better in the second half, but when the big moments came, we weren’t clinical enough,” he explained to TNT.
