Omar Marmoush scored a superb first-half hat-trick to inspire Manchester City to a dominant victory over Premier League top-four rivals Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Eddie Howe 's side initially did well to weather an early storm from Man City, but things soon began to click for the hosts in the final third and Marmoush netted a memorable treble - the first of his senior career - within a minute period to put Pep Guardiola 's side firmly in control.
Kieran Trippier 's poor first-half display resulted in his half-time withdrawal. Joe Willock was also replaced at the interval by Lewis Miley , while Howe's decision to put Alexander Isak on the left flank and Callum Wilson through the middle midway through the second half did not change Newcastle's fortunes in the final third. Martin Dubravka 's goal was not threatened as much by Man City during the second half, but substitute James McAtee tapped home from close range from a corner to add a fourth six minutes from time to rub salt into Newcastle's wounds.
Victory for Man City has not only lifted the spirits of the Etihad faithful following a painful Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in midweek, but it has also helped them to climb back into the top four , one point clear of Chelsea who lost at Brighton on Friday.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have now seen their losing streak away against Man City extended to 16 matches and a first top-flight away defeat since December 7 have seen them slip to seventh in the table following Bournemouth's win at Southampton. Challenging fixtures continue to come thick and fast for Man City, who were determined to bounce back from a demoralising midweek Champions League defeat and could ill-afford to drop more Premier League points against one of their top-four rivals.
Many had predicted Newcastle to come away with a positive result against a mentally and physically frail Citizens outfit, but Guardiola freshened up his side with six changes - including a PL debut handed to Nico Gonzalez - and they ultimately eased to victory against a Magpies side lacking the ruthless touch that they have shown in previous weeks.
