It was back to thrilling business as usual for&nbsp;Manchester&nbsp;City&nbsp;on Saturday as Sergio Aguero&#39;s hat-trick helped the Premier League leaders to a 3-1 victory over abject Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola demanded a response from his table-toppers following the 4-3 loss to Liverpool last Sunday that ended their unbeaten start to the league season.

The&nbsp;City manager got just that as the hosts dominated, despite Newcastle making it interesting for a while in the second half thanks to Jacob Murphy&#39;s fine finish.

The city&nbsp;is again 12 points clear of second-placed&nbsp;Manchester&nbsp;United thanks to a ruthless performance capped by the brilliant Aguero, their all-time leading scorer, whose 11th hat-trick for the club took his tally for the season to 22 goals.

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Back on track ????<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cityvnufc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cityvnufc</a> highlights... 
 
SHORT: <a href="https://t.co/Wr7IPLf2zx">https://t.co/Wr7IPLf2zx</a> 
 
EXTENDED: <a href="https://t.co/Cum2pNAv2t">https://t.co/Cum2pNAv2t</a> <a href="https://t.co/9wep6bVA09">pic.twitter.com/9wep6bVA09</a>
&mdash; Manchester City (@ManCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/954867387559329792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Newcastle&#39;s supporters must look at&nbsp;City&nbsp;and wonder how close they are to getting their own rich new owners after a week in which a potential takeover of the club by British businesswoman Amanda Staveley was branded &quot;frustrating and a complete waste of time&quot; by owner Mike Ashley.

With Newcastle suffering from a lack of investment and hovering at the wrong end of the table, this contest was never going to be a comfortable one for Rafa Benitez&#39;s visitors, especially as the gifted David Silva returned for&nbsp;City&nbsp;after overcoming a stomach complaint.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Yet Newcastle still looked sharper at the start as Christian Atsu snatched at a great chance just 90 seconds in, failing to connect properly when well positioned on the penalty spot.&nbsp;

City&nbsp;then began to dictate the match and John Stones went close for the hosts, poking just wide after an intelligent ball from Silva inside the area.&nbsp;

The city&nbsp;remained on top, with Silva, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kevin De Bruyne posing problems for Newcastle.

&nbsp;

Manchester City is again 12 points clear of second-placed Manchester United

It was back to thrilling business as usual for Manchester City on Saturday as Sergio Aguero's hat-trick helped the Premier League leaders to a 3-1 victory over abject Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola demanded a response from his table-toppers following the 4-3 loss to Liverpool last Sunday that ended their unbeaten start to the league season. The City manager got just that as the hosts dominated, despite Newcastle making it interesting for a while in the second half thanks to Jacob Murphy's fine finish. The city is again 12 points clear of second-placed Manchester United thanks to a ruthless performance capped by the brilliant Aguero, their all-time leading scorer, whose 11th hat-trick for the club took his tally for the season to 22 goals. Back on track ????#cityvnufc highlights... SHORT: https://t.co/Wr7IPLf2zx EXTENDED: https://t.co/Cum2pNAv2t pic.twitter.com/9wep6bVA09 — Manchester City (@ManCity) January 21, 2018 × Newcastle's supporters must look at City and wonder how close they are to getting their own rich new owners after a week in which a potential takeover of the club by British businesswoman Amanda Staveley was branded "frustrating and a complete waste of time" by owner Mike Ashley. With Newcastle suffering from a lack of investment and hovering at the wrong end of the table, this contest was never going to be a comfortable one for Rafa Benitez's visitors, especially as the gifted David Silva returned for City after overcoming a stomach complaint. Yet Newcastle still looked sharper at the start as Christian Atsu snatched at a great chance just 90 seconds in, failing to connect properly when well positioned on the penalty spot. City then began to dictate the match and John Stones went close for the hosts, poking just wide after an intelligent ball from Silva inside the area. The city remained on top, with Silva, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kevin De Bruyne posing problems for Newcastle.

EPL: Aguero hat-trick reboots Man City's title charge

Matt Ritchie condemned Manchester United to a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Newcastle, while Huddersfield climbed out of the relegation zone after a 4-1 win against Bournemouth on Sunday.

United&#39;s second defeat in their last three Premier League games leaves them 16 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho&#39;s second placed side, beaten by Tottenham in their last away game, were rarely at their best at St James&#39; Park and paid the price in the 65th minute.

United defender Chris Smalling was booked for diving inside his own half and from the resulting Jonjo Shelvey free-kick, Dwight Gayle latched onto a header and played a backheel towards Ritchie.

Ritchie&#39;s run was completely untracked by United&#39;s sloppy defence and the Newcastle winger fired low past David De Gea.

Mourinho responded by pulling off Paul Pogba after another underwhelming display from the France midfielder.

And United should have equalised soon after, but when Newcastle failed to clear a corner, Anthony Martial saw two shots blocked on the line by Gayle.

Newcastle had kicked off in the relegation zone, but a first win in five league games -- their first success against United since 2013 -- lifts them to 13th place.

At the John Smith&#39;s Stadium, David Wagner&#39;s team took a seventh-minute lead as Alex Pritchard took Mounie&#39;s pass and drilled in his first Huddersfield goal since his January move from Norwich.

Junior Stanislas equalised for Bournemouth with a cool finish from Ryan Fraser&#39;s cross seven minutes later.

But Mounie restored Huddersfield&#39;s advantage with a 27th-minute header and the Benin striker netted again from Aaron Mooy&#39;s pass to put the hosts in control in the 66th minute.&nbsp;

Rajiv van La Parra converted a stoppage-time penalty to lift Huddersfield out of the bottom three after they had sunk to five consecutive league games.

The Terriers are one point above the relegation zone, while Bournemouth remain in mid-table.

Huddersfield&#39;s first league win in nine matches was marred by an injury to Australia midfielder Mooy, who was stretchered off with a knee problem 15 minutes from time.

Later on Sunday, Liverpool face Southampton at St Mary&#39;s as Jurgen Klopp&#39;s side look to bolster their bid for Champions League qualification via a top-four finish.

United's second defeat in their last three Premier League games leaves them 16 points behind leaders Manchester City

Matt Ritchie condemned Manchester United to a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Newcastle, while Huddersfield climbed out of the relegation zone after a 4-1 win against Bournemouth on Sunday. United's second defeat in their last three Premier League games leaves them 16 points behind leaders Manchester City. Jose Mourinho's second placed side, beaten by Tottenham in their last away game, were rarely at their best at St James' Park and paid the price in the 65th minute. United defender Chris Smalling was booked for diving inside his own half and from the resulting Jonjo Shelvey free-kick, Dwight Gayle latched onto a header and played a backheel towards Ritchie. Ritchie's run was completely untracked by United's sloppy defence and the Newcastle winger fired low past David De Gea. Mourinho responded by pulling off Paul Pogba after another underwhelming display from the France midfielder. And United should have equalised soon after, but when Newcastle failed to clear a corner, Anthony Martial saw two shots blocked on the line by Gayle. Newcastle had kicked off in the relegation zone, but a first win in five league games -- their first success against United since 2013 -- lifts them to 13th place. At the John Smith's Stadium, David Wagner's team took a seventh-minute lead as Alex Pritchard took Mounie's pass and drilled in his first Huddersfield goal since his January move from Norwich. Junior Stanislas equalised for Bournemouth with a cool finish from Ryan Fraser's cross seven minutes later. But Mounie restored Huddersfield's advantage with a 27th-minute header and the Benin striker netted again from Aaron Mooy's pass to put the hosts in control in the 66th minute. Rajiv van La Parra converted a stoppage-time penalty to lift Huddersfield out of the bottom three after they had sunk to five consecutive league games. The Terriers are one point above the relegation zone, while Bournemouth remain in mid-table. Huddersfield's first league win in nine matches was marred by an injury to Australia midfielder Mooy, who was stretchered off with a knee problem 15 minutes from time. Later on Sunday, Liverpool face Southampton at St Mary's as Jurgen Klopp's side look to bolster their bid for Champions League qualification via a top-four finish.

EPL: Newcastle rock Man United as Huddersfield win at last

Luka Milivojevic&#39;s second-half penalty secured a point for Crystal Palace as they recovered from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Newcastle United on Sunday.

Mohamed Diame gave Newcastle the lead from a corner midway through the first half when he slotted the ball in at the far post after Ayoze Perez&rsquo;s cross from the right had gone through a packed goalmouth.

Palace equalised 10 minutes into the second half when they were awarded a penalty for Ciaran Clark&rsquo;s foul on Christian Benteke and Milivojevic converted despite Karl Darlow getting a hand to the ball.

Newcastle might have been two goals up at halftime but Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made two good saves in quick succession, blocking Brazilian winger Kenedy&rsquo;s shot with his chest then diving to his left to palm away Perez&rsquo;s effort from the rebound.

Palace, who came close to a winner several times in a frantic final half hour, climbed to 14th on 27 points, three clear of the relegation zone and two ahead of Newcastle in 16th.

&nbsp;

Palace climbed to 14th on 27 points, three clear of the relegation zone and two ahead of Newcastle in 16th

Luka Milivojevic's second-half penalty secured a point for Crystal Palace as they recovered from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Newcastle United on Sunday. Mohamed Diame gave Newcastle the lead from a corner midway through the first half when he slotted the ball in at the far post after Ayoze Perez’s cross from the right had gone through a packed goalmouth. Palace equalised 10 minutes into the second half when they were awarded a penalty for Ciaran Clark’s foul on Christian Benteke and Milivojevic converted despite Karl Darlow getting a hand to the ball. Newcastle might have been two goals up at halftime but Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made two good saves in quick succession, blocking Brazilian winger Kenedy’s shot with his chest then diving to his left to palm away Perez’s effort from the rebound. Palace, who came close to a winner several times in a frantic final half hour, climbed to 14th on 27 points, three clear of the relegation zone and two ahead of Newcastle in 16th.

EPL: Crystal Palace fight back to draw relegation tussle with Newcastle

Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn into a war of words with Jose Mourinho after Manchester City maintained their impressive progress towards the Premier League title.

City stretched their commanding advantage at the top to 15 points over Manchester United as Raheem Sterling sealed a 1-0 win at Newcastle to record an 18th consecutive league victory, one short of Bayern Munich&#39;s current best for Europe&#39;s top five leagues of 19 straight wins.

United manager Mourinho attempted to provoke Guardiola on Tuesday after pointing to their rivals&#39; huge spending power by claiming &quot;City buy full-backs for the price of strikers&quot; and insisting that the &pound;300 million ($402 million) he has spent since taking charge at Old Trafford 18 months ago as &quot;not enough&quot;.

Mourinho paid &pound;93 million to sign France midfielder Paul Pogba, while also recruiting &pound;30 million defender Eric Bailly, and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for &pound;26.3 million.&nbsp;

This year, United spent &pound;75 million on striker Romelu Lukaku, as well as &pound;31 million on defender Victor Lindelof and &pound;40 million for midfielder Nemanja Matic.

In comparison, City bought three defenders -- Kyle Walker from Tottenham for an initial &pound;45 million, Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for &pound;52 million and Danilo from Real Madrid for &pound;26.5 million as part of a summer outlay that topped &pound;200 million.

When asked about the comments made by the Portuguese, Guardiola said: &quot;I&#39;m so delighted to be here to speak about what happened on the pitch.&nbsp;

&quot;About what happened with my colleague speaking off the pitch in the press conference, I&#39;m not the right guy. You want to talk about what happened today on the pitch, I will answer.&quot;

City remain on course to win the title in record time after equalling Chelsea&#39;s English top flight record of 11 consecutive away wins.&nbsp;

But Guardiola will await medical updates on Vincent Kompany, after the injury-prone skipper limped off with a recurrence of a long-term calf problem.

City face a minimum of eight games in 34 days in a hectic start to the New Year, and Guardiola added: &quot;Of course we are happy to break records but when we prepare for games we don&#39;t speak about them. Until now, we have found a way to win.

&quot;I saw the schedule in my office the other day and I wanted to escape, because it&#39;s terrible. The games we are going to play, it&#39;s tough.&nbsp;

&quot;We&#39;ve played all these games in December then in January you have the Carabao Cup and FA Cup and then the return of the Champions League in February.&nbsp;

&quot;It will be tough but it will also be tough for our opponents.&quot;&nbsp;

Guardiola&#39;s opposite number Rafa Benitez hit back at criticism of his negative approach after his team slid to a fifth consecutive home defeat, Newcastle&#39;s worst run at St James&#39; Park for 64 years to leave them just a point above the bottom three after one win in their last 11 matches.

Substitute Dwight Gayle almost snatched a dramatic late equaliser to in-part justify the manager&#39;s ultra-cautious approach, and the Spaniard said: &quot;We were in the game until the end and very close to getting a point against a very good team.&quot;

Newcastle face the key visit of relegation rivals Brighton before the turn of the year, and Benitez added: &quot;We have a couple of games in the space of a few days against teams near the bottom of the table and hopefully we&#39;ll have some of our injured players back before then.&quot;

'City buy full-backs for the price of strikers,' Mourinho said

Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn into a war of words with Jose Mourinho after Manchester City maintained their impressive progress towards the Premier League title. City stretched their commanding advantage at the top to 15 points over Manchester United as Raheem Sterling sealed a 1-0 win at Newcastle to record an 18th consecutive league victory, one short of Bayern Munich's current best for Europe's top five leagues of 19 straight wins. United manager Mourinho attempted to provoke Guardiola on Tuesday after pointing to their rivals' huge spending power by claiming "City buy full-backs for the price of strikers" and insisting that the £300 million ($402 million) he has spent since taking charge at Old Trafford 18 months ago as "not enough". Mourinho paid £93 million to sign France midfielder Paul Pogba, while also recruiting £30 million defender Eric Bailly, and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for £26.3 million. This year, United spent £75 million on striker Romelu Lukaku, as well as £31 million on defender Victor Lindelof and £40 million for midfielder Nemanja Matic. In comparison, City bought three defenders -- Kyle Walker from Tottenham for an initial £45 million, Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for £52 million and Danilo from Real Madrid for £26.5 million as part of a summer outlay that topped £200 million. When asked about the comments made by the Portuguese, Guardiola said: "I'm so delighted to be here to speak about what happened on the pitch. "About what happened with my colleague speaking off the pitch in the press conference, I'm not the right guy. You want to talk about what happened today on the pitch, I will answer." City remain on course to win the title in record time after equalling Chelsea's English top flight record of 11 consecutive away wins. But Guardiola will await medical updates on Vincent Kompany, after the injury-prone skipper limped off with a recurrence of a long-term calf problem. City face a minimum of eight games in 34 days in a hectic start to the New Year, and Guardiola added: "Of course we are happy to break records but when we prepare for games we don't speak about them. Until now, we have found a way to win. "I saw the schedule in my office the other day and I wanted to escape, because it's terrible. The games we are going to play, it's tough. "We've played all these games in December then in January you have the Carabao Cup and FA Cup and then the return of the Champions League in February. "It will be tough but it will also be tough for our opponents." Guardiola's opposite number Rafa Benitez hit back at criticism of his negative approach after his team slid to a fifth consecutive home defeat, Newcastle's worst run at St James' Park for 64 years to leave them just a point above the bottom three after one win in their last 11 matches. Substitute Dwight Gayle almost snatched a dramatic late equaliser to in-part justify the manager's ultra-cautious approach, and the Spaniard said: "We were in the game until the end and very close to getting a point against a very good team." Newcastle face the key visit of relegation rivals Brighton before the turn of the year, and Benitez added: "We have a couple of games in the space of a few days against teams near the bottom of the table and hopefully we'll have some of our injured players back before then."

Mourinho provokes Guardiola but he does not bite

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