Ilkay Gundogan 8, Ferran Torres 7; Joelinton 5, Karl Darlow 8 - Manchester City v Newcastle player ratings

Goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres extend City's unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games

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  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson 6 – A wet and cold evening for the Brazilian, who had very little to do. He made his first save in the second half, a comfortable low dive to his right to deny Jacob Murphy. He denied Murphy again 12 minutes from time with another impressive stop. EPA

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  Joao Cancelo 8 – His attacking play and passing in the final third was impressive. Playing at right-back, he seemed to have a lot of freedom and was often found in the No 10 role. One of his driving runs led to City’s second goal. AFP

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  John Stones 7 – Another fine performance from Stones who continues to impress. Was solid at the back, but probably should have done better when gifted with a free header from a De Bruyne free-kick. Reuters

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  Ruben Dias 7 – A comfortable night for Dias, who continues to look class alongside Stones and who seems to have transformed City’s defence. Reuters

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  Nathan Ake 7 – Played in a makeshift left-back role and looked solid, if not a little shaky in possession. Won everything in the air. Reuters

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  Ilkay Gundogan 8 – Netted his second goal of the season with a simple tap-in following neat work from Raheem Sterling, and then continued to dominate the midfield. AFP

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  Rodri 6 – Played in front of the defence and his passing tempo was too slow. He was booked in the first half and was on the end of one or two big challenges, so was replaced by Fernandinho. AFP

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  Bernardo Silva 5 – A quiet game for Silva, who hit the post in the second half with 30 minutes left on the clock after Sterling should have scored from close range. Reuters

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  Kevin De Bruyne 7 – De Bruyne was heavily involved in City’s attacks and he twice came close to scoring in the first half, first with what looked like a mishit cross that almost caught out Karl Darlow, and again when one-on-one with Darlow. Reuters

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  Raheem Sterling 6 – Showed great composure for the opening goal. He dummied the goalkeeper and two defenders before unselfishly setting up Ilkay Gundogan to tap in. It was his fifth assist of the season. However, he later missed a sitter and was generally guilty of taking too many touches in the opposing box. EPA

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  Ferran Torres 7 – Always threatened. He had a tame shot saved in the first half and then set up De Bruyne before half time, but later got his second goal of the season with a simple tap-in in the second half. EPA

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  SUB: Fernandinho (Rodri, 57) 7 – His introduction brought a lot of energy to the team. City started moving the ball quicker and they looked a lot more comfortable with him in the XI. AFP

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  SUB: Sergio Aguero (Torres, 77) N/A – Almost scored with his first touch when set up by Cancelo, but was denied by a superb save from Karl Darlow. EPA

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  SUB: Phil Foden (Gundogan) N/A – Came on at the final whistle, which seemed strange given City have another game inside 48 hours. Reuters

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  NEWCASTLE UNITED RATINGS: Karl Darlow 8 – Made a number of key saves to keep the score down and had it not been for him, Newcastle’s evening would have been a lot more ugly. Newcastle’s best performer by some distance. EPA

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  DeAndre Yedlin 5 – Got himself into decent crossing positions but was guilty of taking too many touches or failing to deliver with his final ball. Was lucky not to concede a penalty when it looked like he’d made a rash challenge on Sterling. EPA

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  Fabian Schar 5 – Schar had a tough evening. He was arguably at fault for City’s first goal when he failed to get closer to Sterling. EPA

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  Federico Fernandez 6 – Played well but was unlucky when his block from Cancelo’s cross fell to Torres for City’s second. He made several last-gasp clearances during the game. EPA

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  Ciaran Clark 7 – One of Newcastle’s brightest players, he lead by example and made some dynamic runs into the City half. AFP

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  Matt Ritchie 5 – A natural left winger, he played in a makeshift wing-back role and it didn’t suit him. He made some decent challenges, but his final ball often let him down. Reuters

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  Jacob Murphy 6 – Made a lot of runs into the City half and even had a couple of shots on goal, but didn’t trouble Ederson. EPA

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  Isaac Hayden 7 – Was extremely busy in the middle and was excellent up against De Bruyne and Gundogan. He made a crucial intervention to deny Sterling in the second half. AFP

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  Matty Longstaff 7 – He impressed in the middle for the visitors and worked tirelessly, even getting ahead of Joelinton to press the City defenders. A neat and tidy performance. EPA

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  Miguel Almiron 5 – Another square peg played in a round hole, Almiron did his best from a wide position but was unable to create much of note. Reuters

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  Joelinton 5 – Was played out of position as a lone target man and was isolated for much of the game. A poor performance, but too much was asked of him. EPA

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  SUB: Andy Carroll (Joelinton) N/A – Caused a fair bot of havoc when he came on but was as isolated as Joelinton before him, and found it hard to get into scoring positions. Reuters

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  SUB: Jamal Lewis (Ritchie, 66) 5 – Came on when Newcastle needed a goal and couldn’t provide the spark they needed, instead playing too many safe and sideways passes. AFP

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  SUB: Dwight Gayle (Almiron, 82), N/A – A quiet cameo from Gayle, who couldn’t get into the game. Reuters

Pep Guardiola is optimistic that Manchester City are on course to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title after climbing up to fifth and within five points of the leaders with a routine 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.

At a rain and windswept Etihad Stadium as Storm Bella buffeted Manchester, it was plain sailing for the hosts as goals either side of half-time from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games.