MAN CITY (4-3-3):
Trafford 6; Nunes 7, Khusanov 7, Ake 6 (Alleyne 46, 5), Ait-Nouri 7; REIJNDERS 8, Gonzalez 7 (Lewis 83), O’Reilly 6 (Rodri 71); Foden 7 (Cherki 71), Marmoush 8, Semenyo 8 (Haaland 71).
Subs (not used): Donnarumma (gk), Dias, McAidoo, Nypan.
NEWCASTLE (5-3-2):
5 Ramsdale: Made a superb second-half save from Haaland, but was unable to keep City out in the first half
3 Trippier: Couldn’t live with Manchester City’s attacking down their left-hand side in the first half – is badly showing his age after playing a lot of football in the last couple of months
4 Thiaw: Found himself exposed in the first half and was unable to prevent City’s midfielders from breaking into the box
4 Botman: Had a tough night against Marmoush, particularly in the first half when City delivered a succession of dangerous balls into the box
4 Burn: Was unfortunate to inadvertently set up two City goals, but he never looked comfortable against City’s lively attackers
6 Hall: The only Newcastle bright spot in a wretched first half – Howe made the sensible decision to protect him by taking him off at the interval
4 Ramsey: Couldn’t get a foothold in the game for most of the night as City’s creative players passed round him
3 Willock: Completely overrun by City’s midfielders and spurned a great chance to get Newcastle back into the game when it was only 1-0 by taking the wrong decision as he tried to round Trafford
4 Tonali: Was outplayed by Manchester City’s midfielders – regardless of Monday’s transfer speculation, doesn’t appear to be in a good place at the moment
4 Gordon: Failed to convert a good first-half chance when he shot straight at Trafford and was clutching his hamstring when he trudged off before the break
4 Woltemade: Kept on dropping deep when Newcastle desperately needed someone to break behind the City backline – six months into the season and the Magpies still haven’t worked out how to play to his strengths
Subs:
7 BARNES (for Gordon, 44): Made a massive difference in the second half, constantly looking to break beyond a City defence that had switched off
6 Wissa (for Woltemade, 46): Asked far more questions than Woltemade did, even if his finishing was somewhat awry
6 J Murphy (for Hall, 46): Added some energy in the second half as he tried to run at the City defence
7 Elanga (for Willock, 46): Made a difference down the right and scored a brilliant solo effort to open his goalscoring account for Newcastle
Osula (for Trippier, 76)
(not used): Pope (gk), A Murphy, Shahar, Neave.
Man Of The Match: TIJJANI REIJNDERS – Ran the midfield as Manchester City put the game to bed in the first half.