Gary Lineker: Good evening and welcome to Match of the Day for our thoughts on the 2016/17 Premier League season! It seems the race will be as tight as ever this time around and as we all know it is those direct 6-pointer clashes that play a decisive part in deciding who will fly and who will fall. For this reason we will be focusing solely on those giant games in Match of the Day. Stay with us as Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer aid me on analyzing the key aspects of what happened and why it happened for you!
Gary Lineker: Newcastle prepared for a very tough home game with Man City with nothing less than three points guaranteeing them top spot after this weekend. The Citizens knew a win would let them overtake their hosts in the table and even potentially fire them up at the summit if Man United failed to win. The visitors shot themselves in the foot with an early own goal from David Silva - but were quickly given a lifeline as Debuchy somehow managed to pick up his second yellow card in only the ninth minute! Despite serious pressure from the visiting team there were no more goals before the break. The second half made up in abundance though and it was the Magpies who got something to cheer again when the referee made a tough call to award them a penalty and send Kompany off for a professional foul just after the hour mark. Balotelli slotted the ball home to double the home lead. Buoyed by the positive development, the Magpies wasted little time with Suarez adding a third one. Instead of collapsing, the Citizens were galvanized by this and Aguero pulled one back with ten minutes to go. Lovren added another in the 89th to make for a very intriguing ending but there were no more and Newcastle survived the bloodbath at Saint James' Park!
Alan Hansen: What can you say after a game like that! Simply breathtaking! The peculiar decision to play Debuchy as left wingback was definitely a mistake but how he could get himself sent off for two yellow cards so early in the game is beyond comprehension. It was all Man City in the next 50 minutes but they simply failed to capitalize and produced just a flurry of long shots. That takes us to the second big call from the ref - the Newcastle penalty was justified but I am not so sure about the red shown to Kompany. Perhaps the referee felt like compensating but it definitely changed the game and Newcastle went on to score it and add a third just after. And when you expected it the least, Man City woke up late to pull two back - but it was way too late and they just didn't have enough time to look for an equalizer.
Alan Shearer: It was a big game for Zouma and Krul but Balotelli stole the show and took the PoM award for Newcastle. The subs made the difference for Man City - Aguero and Lovren both came in to score. Alaba and Zabaleta were quite ineffective for the visitors which definitely limited their wing play.
Gary Lineker: It is a big result for Newcastle and they remain top of the table a single point over Man United. The Citizens have fallen back - they are still third but trail the Magpies by five points and have Chelsea, Arsenal and even Tottenham sniffing at their backs!