Magpies torn to shreds as slick City turn on the style

Man City 4 Newcastle United 0

Even before David Silva opened the scoring after just five minutes last night the tone of the evening was clear and after Sergio Aguero doubled the advantage, Steven Taylor was sent off just before the interval for catching Aguero with his arm to kill the visitors’ admittedly slim chances.

Yaya Toure bent in a third with a fine free-kick shortly after the interval before sub Samir Nasri came off the bench to add a fourth. The season may only be in its fourth day but this was an unmistakable message from a group of players who never gave last season’s title defence much of a run.

“We played the first game at home and we wanted to show everyone what we are capable of. We scored four goals and we could have scored more but we are happy with these four,” said Edin Dzeko.

Newcastle fans had lamented the prospect of the same team that limped through the second half of last season starting the new campaign but in the end not even that was possible, with Yohan Cabaye omitted following an offer of €11.7m from Arsenal.

Alan Pardew made his feelings clear about yesterday’s bid before the game but Cabaye’s absence.

Joe Kinnear was mystifyingly brought in over the summer to take care of the club’s transfer policy. But, with Newcastle having made no additions other than the injured Loic Remy, it will be Pardew that carries the can and little surprise he is the favourite to be the first manager sacked this season.

Premier League ambulance chasers are certainly smelling blood already and this was a result, and a particularly pitiful defensive performance, that suggested they are right.

And as the City fans sang “We’ve got Sheikh Mansour, you’ve got Joe Kinnear”, it said it all about the differing aspirations of these two clubs.

Football culture dictates City’s problems on their way to amassing 78 points under Roberto Mancini were exaggerated and that is reflected by Pellegrini making them look devastating with relatively small tweaks.

With Stevan Jovetic not even making the bench, Fernandinho and Jesus Navas were the only new starters, with the former showing his tenacity in midfield and the latter demonstrating searing pace and total commitment to attack at every opportunity.

There is a suspicion Pellegrini’s ‘Plan A’ 4-4-2 formation may curtail the influence of Toure but after a display like this, it was harsh to pick as Newcastle were stretched and pressed to the extent their evening was effectively finished with 84 minutes left.

They had already been cut apart when Dzeko’s low effort was pushed wide by Tim Krul. The Bosnian striker appears revitalised and his forceful run and cross helped lay on the opener. The ball glanced up off the hapless Taylor and Silva guided a header into the corner, scoring with his head for the first time in the Premier League.

Soon the advantage was doubled, when the Bosnian flicking a Navas pass into the path of Aguero and the Argentina forward made room past Taylor to squeeze a low shot off the inside of the post.

Taylor’s night got worse as he swiped at Aguero with his arm and was shown a red card by Andre Marriner.

With the visitors penned inside their own half, the lead should have been extended further just after the restart but Krul pulled off an astonishing save to swat away a header from Dzeko. The Dutch goalkeeper might as well not have bothered as seconds later, Toure bent a free-kick into the top corner to make it three for the hosts.

A fourth was chalked up with just over a quarter of an hour remaining as Nasri reacted to a loose ball far quicker than fellow Frenchman Mathieu Debuchy to collect and guide a precise shot past Krul.

Negredo came off the bench in the closing stages but was wrongly denied a debut goal. All the same, City have served notice.

MAN CITY: Hart 7; Zabaleta 7, Kompany 7 (Garcia 71), Lescott 7, Clichy 7; Navas 8, Fernandinho 7, Toure 7, Silva 8 (Negredo 80, 6) ; Dzeko 8, Aguero 7 (Nasri 61, 7).

NEWCASTLE: Krul 7; Debuchy 5, Taylor 4, Coloccini 6, Yanga-Mbiwa 6; Tiote 6, Gutierrez 5 (Anita 44, 6), Ben Arfa 7 (Sam Ameobi 65, 6), Sissoko 6, Gouffran 5 (Dummett 45); Cisse 5.