Nico O'Reilly wheels away after scoring his and Manchester City's second goal against Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium
Image caption, Nico O'Reilly wheels away after scoring his and Manchester City's second goal against Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium
Manchester City moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a tense victory against Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners opened the door to City by squandering a two-goal lead against doomed Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek - but Newcastle made Pep Guardiola's side fight all the way for a vital three points.
Nico O'Reilly's two first-half goals, either side of Lewis Hall's equaliser, set the platform for City's victory, putting pressure on Arsenal before Sunday's north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur (16:30 GMT).
Newcastle, however, made light of their 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag in a Champions League play-off, giving City plenty of anxiety in the second half before the win was secured.
City, knowing victory would push them on to Arsenal's shoulder, made a predictably fast start and went ahead in the 14th minute, O'Reilly's shot carrying too much power for Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, who should have done better having got a hand to the effort.
Newcastle were posing threats of their own and were quickly level, Hall's shot deflecting past Gianluigi Donnarumma off Rayan Ait-Nouri after City failed to clear a corner.
City were briefly set back, but went ahead again after 27 minutes when Antoine Semenyo showed more desire than Nick Woltemade to play in Erling Haaland, who provided a perfect cross for O'Reilly to head home at the far post.
Nerves were frayed inside the Etihad in the closing stages, and it needed a huge save by Donnarumma from Harvey Barnes in the dying seconds before City could finally celebrate.
More to follow.