JAKARTA - 20-year-old young player, Nico O'Reilly, scored a brace that led Manchester City to a crucial 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in an English Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Sunday, February 22, 2026 WIB. The result makes Man City threaten Arsenal's position.
It's time for Arsenal to start worrying. Could the scenario of failure and only being able to keep the trophy to be handed over to its rival club be repeated after Man City picked up an important victory in the English League?
Yes, Arsenal lost points after being held by the bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2. The bad result was very disturbing the Gunners' mentality rather than being defeated by Manchester United 3-2 at home at the Emirates.
How not, Wolves are only the team in the lowest position and almost certainly relegated next season. However, Arsenal failed to take advantage of the opportunity to win even though they were 2-0 ahead.
Even though they can still get one point at home against their opponents, Arsenal's position at the top of the table has begun to receive serious threats from Man City. And, The Cityzens indeed showed a positive trend.
Since being defeated by Man Utd 2-0 in the Manchester Derby, Pep Guardiola's team immediately bounced back by eliminating their opponents. Especially after they also suffered a 3-1 defeat against Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League.
Man City, who are ranked second, continued to pressure Arsenal and finally managed to cut the points gap after defeating Newcastle. This is the fifth victory from the last eight matches for Man City in various competitions. This result also makes them get 56 points and only two points behind Arsenal.
The brilliant performance of the heavyweights makes Arsenal wary. More than that, Arsenal still has to visit Man City's home in April.
Meanwhile, Newcastle still can't overcome the deadlock when playing at the Etihad. They have never won in the last 20 matches at home to Man City. In the last meeting in the semi-final of the English League Cup, The Magpies also suffered defeat.
The two teams have met four times this season. Interestingly, they are back in the FA Cup 16th round. But this time Newcastle is acting as the host.
The failure to score points in the away game makes Newcastle still stuck in the middle of the table. They are ranked 10th with 36 points. The same as Sunderland, but Newcastle still has a goal difference.
In that match, Newcastle who was really exhausted after playing an away match in Baku, Azerbaijan, when facing Qarabag in the Champions League had to work hard to deal with Man City. Only the hosts played better and were able to put pressure.
Man City's efforts also bore fruit when the match entered the 14th minute. It started with striker Erling Haaland's action who gave the ball to Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian national team player then passed a brilliant pass to O'Reilly who finished it off with a hard shot that defeated goalkeeper Nick Pope.
1-0 ahead, Man City still played pressing. Only, Newcastle also rose and began to show aggressiveness in the attack. Even Eddie Howe's team got a few chances to equalize. Striker Anthony Gordon who scored four goals when Newcastle slaughtered Qarabag 4-1 almost broke into the Man City goal.
If Gordon still fails, on the other hand, defender Lewis Hall breaks the deadlock of the Toon Army in the 22nd minute. It started from a corner kick that led to the Man City goal.
The home players tried to throw the ball but the ball fell at the feet of Hall who then took a shot at the goal. The ball still managed to hit Man City defender Rayan Ait-Nouri so that it turned a little and deceived goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The score was tied 1-1. Man City immediately bounced back and put pressure on Newcastle's defense. The hosts didn't take long to get ahead again.
Only five minutes later, O'Reilly managed to score his second goal after completing an assist from Haaland. His header from close range changed the score to 2-1. The score remained until the first half ended.
Entering the second half, Man City did not change the tempo of the game. However, Newcastle was able to keep up with Man City. In fact, Hall almost scored his second goal in the match.
Man City began to have trouble breaking through Newcastle's defense. Guardiola also looked frustrated because his team had not added a goal to kill Newcastle. However, they were finally able to secure three points after the 2-1 score remained until the end of the match.
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