Manchester City scored two unanswered goals against Newcastle United at St James' Park to move to the top of the Premier League table this afternoon.
Strikes from Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo either side of the break proved decisive, although the home team will feel aggrieved to have had Cheick Tiote's goal disallowed when they were trailing 1-0.
Below, Sports Mole has looked back over the contest to determine if the result was a fair one.
Match statistics
Newcastle
Shots: 13
On target: 5
Possession: 54%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 18
Man City
Shots: 14
On target: 6
Possession: 46%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 15
Was the result fair?
The statistics above will have you believe that there was not much to choose between the two sides and by and large that is a correct verdict. Goals change games, though, and as soon as Tiote's strike was ruled out (wrongly) for offside, there was a real feeling that City would go on to claim the points. Whether they deserved it - probably just about. They defended well during the second half, but it could well have been a different story had Tiote's goal stood.
Newcastle's performance
The home side will, quite rightly, point to the disallowed goal. It was, after all, a real turning point. Looking at the display, Newcastle were poor during the first half. They gave away possession too cheaply and once Tiote's goal was chalked off, they lost their discipline somewhat. The display improved during the second half and they created a handful of opportunities, but only once did they call Joe Hart into real meaningful action.
Man City's performance
True, they were fortunate with 'Tiote-gate', but it was a really impressive performance from Manuel Pellegrini's team. Whisper it, but it was the sort of outing that you associate with champions. During the first 20 minutes they played some slick football and could have scored two or three goals in that period. After that, they defended well and always looked a threat on the counter-attack. For their title rivals, it was an ominous display and all without Sergio Aguero and for a part Yaya Toure, who limped off.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Aleksandar Kolarov: The City full-back is not always an automatic starter, but he did his chances of gaining more action no harm today. He set up the first goal for Dzeko and sent over a number of other dangerous crosses that his teammates failed to benefit from. In the closing stages he also showed his worth defensively with a brave block to deny Steven Taylor.
Biggest gaffe
Loic Remy has not done too much wrong in a Newcastle shirt this season, but he made a real mess of a glorious chance today. On the one occasion that Vincent Kompany committed an error, the French striker was through on goal. He seemed reluctant to shoot with his left foot, though, and having cut back, saw the chance snuffed out by a retreating Kompany. Had Remy been more direct, a goal looked inevitable.
Referee performance
Mike Jones is probably best advised to avoid tomorrow's newspapers because he is going to be heavily criticised. The majority of it will centre around the goal that he disallowed following a consultation with his assistant. Yoan Gouffran was beyond the City defence, but it would be hard to argue that he was involved in play as the ball whistled into the net. His mistake wound up the Newcastle players, who subsequently committed numerous fouls that resulted in yellow cards as the man with the whistle lost control on proceedings for a while. Not Jones's best afternoon, it must be said.
What next?
Newcastle: The Magpies are on the road next Saturday when they travel to Upton Park to take on West Ham United.
Man City: As for the Citizens, they will play host to Cardiff City at the Etihad Stadium on the same day.
Liam Apicella
