City see off luckless Magpies

Adam Johnson came off the bench to lift Man City into second in the table after a 2-1 win over Newcastle.

Sub scores winner to move Mancini's men up to second

Adam Johnson came off the substitutes' bench to lift Manchester City into second in the Premier League table after a 2-1 home win over a spirited Newcastle United. England winger Johnson scored the winner 15 minutes from time to earn his team the points as the Magpies saw key decisions go against them at the City of Manchester Stadium. Newcastle suffered a blow inside the opening five minutes when Hatem Ben Arfa was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg following a crunching challenge from Nigel de Jong. The Magpies had further cause to rue their misfortune on 18 minutes when Carlos Tevez hammered home a penalty after he was brought down by Mike Williamson. However, Williamson appeared to win the ball when initially making the tackle outside the area and could only watch on as Tevez's spot-kick lifted the netting off the ground. The visitors, though, deservedly drew level on 24 minutes when Jonas Gutierrez thumped the ball beyond Joe Hart after the Argentine reacted quickest to a poor clearance from his own cross. City struggled to create chances in the second half until the 72nd minute introduction of Johnson turned the game in the hosts' favour. Just three minutes after replacing Gareth Barry, Johnson cut into the box from the right and created space for a shot before arrowing a left-footed drive into the far corner. Newcastle were denied the chance to level again two minutes later when referee Martin Atkinson failed to award a penalty after Shola Ameobi was felled by Joleon Lescott and City saw out the closing moments to leapfrog rivals United in the standings.

Combustible presence

The combustible presence of Joey Barton at City for the first time since his acrimonious departure three years ago meant the touchpaper for this encounter would not require much burning. Yet the foul which brought this contest to boiling point had nothing to do with the combative midfielder. De Jong is a successor in more ways than one and that referee Atkinson did not view the Dutchman's early challenge on Ben Arfa to even warrant a foul was a surprise. In winning the ball, De Jong was taking his opponent as well. Ben Arfa's left leg buckled and, as has happened too often already this season, oxygen was called for as the first stage to treating a break that will rule the young Frenchman out for an extended period. That Newcastle should then fall behind to a debatable penalty only fuelled their sense of grievance. Williamson was adamant he took the ball as he slid in on Tevez. He was coming from the back as well though and once Atkinson deemed it a penalty, the shock then was that when the red card seemed automatic, he produced a yellow instead. Tevez exacted further punishment though, drilling the spot-kick into the middle of the Newcastle net.

Admirable response

Newcastle's response was admirable and the away side were level within six minutes after Vincent Kompany's attempted clearance from Gutierrez's cross remained in the box. The Argentina international, who failed to score during his first Premier League season at St James' Park, did so brilliantly here, controlling the loose ball before rasping a shot beyond Hart. Sol Campbell then came on for his Premier League debut for Newcastle before half-time as Chris Hughton was pressed into another change after Fabricio Coloccini picked up an injury. Although Newcastle could never claim to be dominating, it said much for their efforts that Roberto Mancini turned to Emmanuel Adebayor for some inspiration just 10 minutes after the restart. Yaya Toure had set Tevez up for an angled effort which brought an excellent save from Krul but it was part of a minimal contribution from the Ivorian, who was the man sacrificed for Adebayor's greater attacking power. The African's impact was disappointing though, certainly compared to that of Johnson, who was celebrating within three minutes of his introduction for Barry. Mancini has delivered a number of warnings to the winger recently, which he insists are merely reminders of what it takes to reach the top but, as they have come with the additional slap of being left out, hint at something more concrete. Newcastle were convinced they should have been presented with the opportunity to level from the spot when Lescott took down Ameobi with a rather rash challenge. Atkinson thought otherwise and when Mike Williamson headed Barton's corner over from close range, the Magpies' last chance of stealing a point disappeared with it.

Manchester City	Team Statistics	Newcastle United
2	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
5	Shots on Target	3
4	Shots off Target	4
2	Blocked Shots	1
4	Corners	4
13	Fouls	13
6	Offsides	0
3	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
82.4	Passing Success	82.5
27	Tackles	19
66.7	Tackles Success	73.7
51.5	Possession	48.5
46.8	Territorial Advantage	53.2