Man City 4-0 Newcastle: Omar Marmoush nets hat-trick as Pep Guardiola's side move into top four | OneFootball

Late Erling Haaland injury scare the only negative on an otherwise perfect afternoon for City

Manchester City moved into the top four as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.

Chelsea’s defeat to Brighton on Friday night opened the door for City or Newcastle to move into the Champions League places and Pep Guardiola’s side burst through it in emphatic fashion.

Omar Marmoush scored his first goal for the club, running in behind and lifting a finish over Martin Dubravka, and there were two more to come as he netted a first-half hat-trick.

It was like the City of old in the second-half, dominating the ball and taking no real risks as they controlled proceedings, before James McAtee came off the bench to turn in from close range late on.

There was a concern for City in the final minutes when Erling Haaland went down holding his knee and had to be replaced, but he took his place on the bench rather than going straight down the tunnel.

Although Newcastle offered little, City looked more like the side that has won the past four titles than the one that has laboured through most of this campaign.

Certainly for an afternoon their defensive concerns - with Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake all missing - were put aside as Marmoush took centre stage.

The Egypt international looked the antidote to City's struggles as he made his mark in impressive fashion.

He served warning of his threat when he lashed over from a tight angle and then almost set up Haaland after pouncing on a defensive error.

His opener came after 19 minutes as he latched onto a long ball from Ederson, the ball bouncing invitingly over Kieran Trippier's head.

With Martin Dubravka off his line, it sat up perfectly for Marmoush to lob into the unguarded net. Remarkably it was Ederson's sixth Premier League assist - a new record in the competition for a goalkeeper - and his third this season.

Marmoush doubled the lead five minutes later, this time after a driving run from Ilkay Gundogan. Trippier was again the defender caught out as Marmoush cut inside and drilled a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

His treble almost came moments later after being slipped in by Phil Foden but this time Dubravka was equal to his effort.

Yet he was not to be denied for long as the tricky Savinho weaved his way into the area on the right and cut back for him to sidefoot home.

Aside from a deflected Alexander Isak shot, there had been little danger from Newcastle and the visitors were almost breached again when Savinho fired across the face of goal.

Haaland went close after the break as he headed at Dubrakva from a corner. Newcastle had a rare chance when Lewis Miley forced a save from Ederson.

After a quiet second period, Marmoush was withdrawn to a good ovation after 76 minutes.

McAtee, who came on for Foden at the same time, soon made his mark as he turned in from a Haaland flick-on.

Haaland gave City a late scare ahead of the Madrid game when he went down clutching his leg but he walked off as he was immediately substituted.

Additional reporting by PA Sport.