Score - Manchester City 3 - Newcastle United 1

Manchester City have now recorded their fourth consecutive home win victory with this win over Newcastle United. Elano led Newcastle a merry dance at Eastlands, the Brazilian was a clear man of the match winner with an inspired display of passing and he strode up to take Manchester City’s 86th minute free kick, which made the score 3-1 and guaranteed Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men their victory.

Manchester City have recorded single-goal victories in all their previous home games this season, and it was thought that their great run would be unlikely to continue against Newcastle United’s side which is packed full with talent, even with Michael Owen not playing. Shay Given returned to the squad this week and was a big call to play him by the magpies manager Sam Allardyce, especially given how well Stephen Harper has been playing, but in the end it was notably justified, given some of the great saves that Shay Given made, mostly to deny Elano scoring. Sven-Goran Ericksson certainly made a great decision when he splashed out £8million of Thaksin Shinawatra’s cash buying Elano from Shakhtar Doneetsk. Elano is a regular international player for Brazil and is said to have a touch of class beyond the norm. His vision and touch are just a delight to watch and he certainly kept Newcastle defence and goalkeeper on their toes.

Match Quotes -

Sven-Goran Ericksson -
“This team is very good and when they play more games together they will get even better. It was a very good performance so I’m very happy and we could have scored more goals.”

Sam Allardyce - “We committed defensive suicide. All our defenders have to do is clear the ball back up the pitch and we just didn’t. After that, they contained us and played on the break, which was what I had asked my players to do.”

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