It was one of those days in Manchester when all the seasons made an appearance: a glorious sunny morning gradually gave way to cold, driving rain that left you wondering if you’d imagined the good weather.. Pep Guardiola’s side simply played through what they were given, as they have done for eight years. Manchester City are a team for all weathers and all seasons and when their era of dominance ends it will take some serious beating.. Newcastle were a tough quarter-final opponent for a team that had already drawn two Premier League opponents this year – including Spurs in their stadium – yet the Geordies were brushed aside in one of the earliest and most convincing wins seen at the Etihad for a good while. It wasn’t quite the statement victory City have been searching for given Newcastle’s injuries and struggles with form, but it certainly kicks the Blues on for bigger tests to come as they look to pull off the unthinkable double Treble.. ALSO READ: Man City 2-0 Newcastle as it happened. ALSO READ: Man City player ratings with Manu Akanji good. City won’t like to hear any talk of that yet – Guardiola suggested this week he would entertain the idea with one trophy down and two finals to go – but the facts are that when the team returns from international duty at the end of March the dream remains very much on. At the very least, they have another trip to Wembley in the bag after their 2-0 win over Newcastle to up the stakes even more; if you thought March was tough, have a look at April.. That semi-final will be the 18th game Guardiola has taken charge of City at Wembley for (20 if you include the two league games against Spurs) in under eight years. Eighteen, including FA Cup semi-finals for the last six years in a row. And if City have it their way, they will be back twice more before the end of the season for two finals.. That is getting ahead though, and City have achieved what they have achieved by not doing that. Against Newcastle, they got their rewards by being patient and doing the simple things right.. Eddie Howe’s side looked sharp early on and tested the defence with Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak’s direct running, yet City kept their cool and played their game. With their first real sustained spell of possession, Rodri slipped it to Bernardo Silva and the winger’s shot was deflected in off Dan Burn.. On the half-hour mark, a carbon copy saw the ball go in off Sven Botman instead and the air was sucked out of Geordie lungs. This is not a ground where you want to be two goals down and chasing the game.. City still had to be alert, with Manu Akanji excellent at the back and Stefan Ortega making a terrific save to keep the clean sheet. As disappointed as Ederson will be with his injury, there are few nerves from Blues with such a capable replacement.. Further forward, everything that Guardiola wanted to come off did come off. Mateo Kovacic was an assured presence alongside Rodri and is becoming a master at bouncing off challenges as he makes his way up the pitch, Jeremy Doku was dangerous floating in from the left, and Phil Foden buzzed about with menace.. The only disappointment from the attack was that Erling Haaland failed to find the net again. The Norwegian is on 29 goals in a campaign where he has missed two months with injury so is hardly having a crisis, but in the FA Cup quarter-final last year he netted his 40th, 41st, and 42nd goals last season.. It wasn’t for lack of trying that he didn’t score, and some of his contributions in the game were certainly appreciated. Guardiola clapped so violently after Haaland had tracked back to near the dugouts that he nearly took the striker’s head off, while Foden was quick to offer a reassuring tap after Haaland bore down on goal only to curl his shot wide in the second half.. City won’t be overly concerned by Haaland, it just feels like he didn’t need those moments last season because he was too busy scoring. The goals are still coming, but not as freely or fiercely.. In the meantime, the rest of the team ticks on. It is now 22 games unbeaten since that bewildering defeat at Villa Park in December that left Guardiola wondering how they were going to turn it around, with just three of those games draws.. Still, the feeling lingers that City haven’t quite hit the heights that they did last season, or in previous years, but all this year’s class can do is keep winning the games that are in front of them. Guardiola wrote in his programme notes for this game that the squad had the hunger to go for more glory and the fist-pump from Kyle Walker at full-time backed up that sentiment.. Having trudged through the rain for 90 minutes, most of the team kept at it after the final whistle to applaud the fans as they made their way around the stands. The next time they are together, it will be the biggest home game of the season when Arsenal come to town sitting one point above the Blues in the Premier League.. Whatever the weather is on that Sunday afternoon, Mikel Arteta and his team will know that they are in for one hell of a contest.
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