Monday 23 February 2015 08:21, UK
The title race is back on after Man City cut Chelsea's lead to just five points at the top...
Title race still on
When Manchester City dropped points at home to Hull two weeks ago, it left their title hopes hanging in the balance. After pegging back Chelsea's lead with a seven-game winning run over November and December, they had allowed the gap to slip to seven points - a considerable chasm with only a third of the season left to play.
However, following Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Burnley on Saturday, City sent out a message with a 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle to cut their rivals' advantage to five points. The champions clearly mean business as the season edges towards a thrilling finale, and have ramped up the pressure at the perfect time.
Similar to last season, City may find that it is better to be chasing the leaders at this stage than feeling the heat in first place. If they keep playing to their potential over the remaining 12 matches, it will be a huge test of Chelsea's mettle.
Silva leads title push
If City are to stand any chance of reining in Chelsea at the top of the table they will need David Silva to be at his best between now and the end of the season. On Saturday, the Spaniard demonstrated he is ready to live up to that demand.
Silva was magnificent against Newcastle, scoring two sublime strikes and creating more chances for his teammates than any other City player despite being replaced with half an hour remaining.
The playmaker's quick-fire double after the break took his total for the season to nine goals - his best return in a single Premier League campaign - while Edin Dzeko benefited from a pin-point pass to double City's lead in the first half.
If Silva can maintain this level of form in the run-in, he could still have a major say in a title race many thought Chelsea had already wrapped up.
Dzeko challenges Bony
Although they ended the match as City's attacking partnership, it is likely that one of Edin Dzeko or Wilfried Bony will be sacrificed in the battle to play alongside Sergio Aguero.
Having cost £28m in the January transfer window, it may be expected that Bony will eventually be picked to partner the Argentine, but Dzeko challenged that assumption with an impressive display on Saturday.
The Bosnian striker showed brilliant composure to fire Silva's chipped pass past Tim Krul and remained a handful for Newcastle's defence throughout. That no player managed more shots highlights Dzeko's involvement, although he will hope to improve on his ratio of only two hitting the target.
Avoidable yellow cards
With City cruising at 3-0, Vincent Kompany charged into Papiss Cisse near the half-way line to pick up an entirely avoidable booking. It was the captain's eighth caution of the season in all competitions and an unwanted blemish on an otherwise successful afternoon for the champions.
City will be desperate for Kompany to avoid picking up a suspension in the Premier League run-in, while the same applies to Yaya Toure, who was also booked moments later.
The Ivorian now requires only one more yellow card to earn an automatic one-game ban under the accumulation rule, meaning he could live to regret a needless lack of discipline against Newcastle.
Newcastle disappointing
Although City were impressive in their 5-0 victory, they were given a helping hand by a disappointing Newcastle performance.
The visitors won 2-0 on their last trip to the Etihad in the Capital One Cup in October, but offered nothing like the same invention on Saturday.
Vurnon Anita's foul on Dzeko inside the first minute set the tone for a difficult afternoon as Sergio Aguero tucked home the resulting penalty and, with the score already at 3-0 by half-time, the match was over as a contest.
Newcastle will need to start matches much better in future if they are to escape mid-table obscurity and give John Carver a chance of keeping the manager's job full-time.
