Man City wasteful but march on with 18th straight win

Saturday, 30 December 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Manchester City’s relentless assault on English football’s record books continued on Wednesday as a Raheem Sterling goal earned them a 1-0 win at Newcastle United to extend their extraordinary record of successive Premier League wins to 18.

Sterling’s fine 31st minute finish saw Guardiola’s men improve their unbeaten league sequence this season to 20 games and stretch their yawning gap at the top of the league to 15 points on a night where they dominated but were very wasteful. Rafa Benitez started with the most negative approach St James’ Park can ever have seen from a Newcastle side, allowing City to monopolise proceedings before Sterling finally broke their resistance with his 13th league goal of the season. City hit the woodwork three times in total – twice from Sergio Aguero and once from Kevin De Bruyne – and they nearly paid for their profligacy in front of goal when, in rare Newcastle attacks, Rolando Aarons had a first-half chip cleared off the line and Dwight Gayle headed wide late on. Despite a slightly sloppy second-half performance, it would have been a travesty if Newcastle, just a point above the relegation zone after their fifth straight home defeat, had been rewarded for an ultra-cautious approach.

City moved on to 58 points out of a possible 60, with their Manchester United neighbours on 43 points and Chelsea on 42.