Nico O’Reilly Double Sends Manchester City Within Two Points of Arsenal

Manchester City moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 2–1 victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium, as Nico O’Reilly scored twice in the first half to extend City’s run to 17 consecutive home wins over Newcastle in all competitions.

City took the lead in the 14th minute through O’Reilly’s first senior league goal at the Etihad. Omar Marmoush drove forward through midfield and picked out the 20-year-old just outside the area.

His low strike from 20 yards found the bottom-left corner despite Nick Pope getting a hand to it.

Newcastle responded in the 22nd minute when Lewis Hall equalised from the edge of the area.

Sandro Tonali’s corner was worked back into the box by Jacob Ramsey, and Hall’s strike took a significant deflection before beating Gianluigi Donnarumma and finding the bottom-right corner.

City restored their lead five minutes later. Erling Haaland, who now has seven Premier League assists, lifted a cross into the centre of the box and O’Reilly arrived unmarked to head past Pope, scoring his second goal of the match and City’s 11th in their last five league games.

Newcastle thought they had equalised before half-time when Dan Burn converted from Tonali’s free-kick, but the defender was ruled offside, and the decision was confirmed by VAR.

City managed the second half effectively, limiting Newcastle despite the visitors’ recent attacking form, which had produced 14 goals in their previous five matches.

The result strengthened City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to Arsenal to two points, while Newcastle remain 10th in the table and still without a league win at the Etihad.