After our 2-1 win over Newcastle, the media have heaped praise on Raheem Sterling for his opener and Kyle Walker’s superb first City goal.
READ: City v Newcastle | player reaction
READ: Match report | City v Newcastle
First up, the Guardian summarised our win.
Daniel Taylor reported: “This stadium has provided so many bleak memories for Newcastle over recent years it was probably no surprise that the visitors started so apprehensively.
“Raheem Sterling’s goal was a fine finish, cutting inside DeAndre Yedlin before aiming a diagonal shot past Martin Dubravka from the edge of the penalty area.”
Sterling certainly impressed the MEN‘s Stuart Brennan, who made the winger his star City man.
Brennan wrote in his player ratings piece: “The goal was a cracker, and he carried on taking the fight right to the heart of the Newcastle defences with those ball-carrying sprints - it was one of them which created space for Walker’s blockbuster.”
Meanwhile in the Mirror, Aaron Flanagan declared: “Kyle Walker‘s first goal in almost three years broke Newcastle’s dogged resilience as Manchester City returned to winning ways.
“While normal service was not quite resumed in the 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium - this being their lowest winning margin at home since beating Chelsea 1-0 in March - it at least put Pep Guardiola‘s side back on track after last week’s hiccup at Wolves.
“They remain two points behind Liverpool and Chelsea, who both have 100 per cent records after four matches, but it needed a bolt from the blue to do so.
“Despite Walker’s prowess as a marauding full-back his last goal came in November 2015 so to see him rifle home a 25-yard winner early in the second half was something of a surprise.
“Raheem Sterling‘s eighth-minute opener on his 100th Premier League appearance for the club was cancelled out by DeAndre Yedlin - another defender not known for his aptitude in front of goal.”
Finally, Walker’s debut goal as a Blue was highly commended in the Daily Mail.
Rob Draper wrote: “Certainly City returned with a heightened degree of purpose. However, the source of the breakthrough goal was entirely unexpected on 52 minutes. City were plugging away, working the ball across the pitch and in doing so pulled Paul Dummett out of position. Still, even though there was too much space for Walker to size up his strike, there seemed little danger: 30 yards out it seemed ambitious.
“Yet he hit it with such ferocity, through a forest of legs that it beat Dubravka at the far post. Dubravka, who seemed to get a hand, will feel he shouldn’t have been beaten from such distance. But it was an almighty strike.”
That’s all for today, but we will be back with all the latest news and headlines from the back pages at the same time tomorrow!
