Man City impress again

Man City 3-1 Newcastle
Man City defeated Newcastle 3-1 to continue Sven-Goran Eriksson's impressive start to the beginning of the year. The impressive Elano was fantastic throughout, turning in a man of the match display, and rounded up a stunning performance with a great goal from a free kick in the last few minutes.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has refused to emphasise what his team's target is for the season, however, on this evidence there is nothing to suggest that Man City will not be near to a UEFA Cup qualification place.

There were no major changes, however, Kasper Schmeichel was dropped to the bench in place of Joe Hart whilst Shay Given regained his place in goal for Newcastle.

In an exciting, pulsating clash there were 31 shots in goal in total, and Obafemi Martins put Newcastle 1-0 up in the 29th minute with fine control and an excellent finish.

It didn't take long for a Man City response, as Martin Petrov grabbed a cleverly worked goal in the 38th minute.

After half time, Emile Mpenza grabbed the second goal as he headed home in the 47th minute. It was the perfect response after half time.

Elano's thunderous 87th-minute free-kick wrapped up the game and Elano's

"This team is very good and when they play more games together they will get even better," Eriksson told Sky Sports 1.

"It's good and I like to see them play football."

He added: "It was a very good performance so I'm very happy and we could have scored more goals."