Julian Alvarez fired Manchester City to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium.
A long-term hamstring injury to Kevin De Bruyne has created an opportunity in the attacking positions behind Erling Haaland in Pep Guardiola’s team, and Alvarez took his chance after half an hour of patient but fruitless dominance from the champions.
A wonderful touch by Phil Foden on the end of Mateo Kovacic’s slide-rule pass allowed him to tee Alvarez up for an emphatic finish across Nick Pope.
Foden dazzled throughout in an advanced central midfield position and combined excellently with Haaland, only for last season’s Golden Boot winner to endure an off-night in front of goal.
What City occasionally lacked in cutting edge they more than made up for with their customary control, with Newcastle forced to feed off scraps.
Josko Gvardiol repaid a chunk of his £77.5 million transfer fee with a vital challenge on substitute Callum Wilson after Rodri was bundled out of possession by Miguel Almiron and there were no further sights of Ederson’s goal, with City completing a celebratory week having claimed the UEFA Super Cup with a penalty shootout win over Sevilla.
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