Nico Gonzalez can be Man City’s ‘mini-Rodri’ – Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Omar Marmoush claimed the headlines but Pep Guardiola also praised the role of his “mini-Rodri” Nico Gonzalez in Manchester City’s 4-0 demolition of Newcastle.

Marmoush scored a sparkling 14-minute hat-trick as the champions put their top-four rivals to the sword to secure a comprehensive Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The win lifted City to fourth in the table and was the perfect tonic ahead of their daunting Champions League trip to Real Madrid this coming week.

Yet while one January signing took most of the plaudits, another new recruit also caught the eye.

Gonzalez, the £49.9million recruit from Porto, shone on his first league start in the City midfield, providing a measure of control sorely missing since linchpin Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September.

City manager Guardiola said: “I think the presence of Nico helped us a lot because of 10 balls, the 50-50s, he wins seven and you can run. When you lose seven, they will run.

“I have the feeling the club bought an incredible player for the future, in terms of mentality.

“He’s so young, 23 remember, like a mini-Rodri. That’s a big compliment – but there’s this feeling for the big presence, the duels.

“Of course, he’s miles away from Rodri. Rodri is the best.

“But I had the feeling, everyone had the feeling, that he’s going to help us in the last part of the season.”

City did not look back after Marmoush opened his City account on 19 minutes and quickly followed up with two more. Newcastle mustered little in response and James McAtee completed the rout six minutes from time.

It was a welcome victory given City’s inconsistency this season but attention must quickly turn to the sizeable task of trying to overturn a 3-2 deficit in the second leg of their play-off tie against Real.

“It was a very nice day,” said Egypt international Marmoush. “It is the first hat-trick of my career.

“I’d like to thank the club. Everyone feels welcome from the first day. I feel this is a big part of why we could perform like that.

“Now for us the focus is on the next game, to give 100 per cent and we will see what happens.”

The only concern for City was an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland late in the game but Guardiola played down concerns, saying the player had been “smiling like always” afterwards.

It was a miserable day for Newcastle as they lost ground in their push for a return to the Champions League next season.

The result meant they slipped to seventh, three points behind City, and manager Eddie Howe hopes his side’s progress to the Carabao Cup final – which will give them a shot at a first major trophy since 1969 – is not going to prove a distraction.

Howe said: “If that is the case, we’re in trouble because our Premier League season will be over by the time that final comes around. It can’t be the focus.

“It’s on the horizon, but it should be a positive, it shouldn’t be a negative distraction for us. I’d encourage the players to look at it like that, it’s an excitement.

“But we have to go back to work, and work is the Premier League, day in, day out.

“We have to perform – that’s three of our last performances in the Premier League that haven’t been good enough, and they’ve all had similar traits in them. It’s back to basics for us next week.”