Nico O’Reilly scored twice as Manchester City secured a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The win brings City within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal following their midweek draw. Lewis Hall equalized for Newcastle, but O’Reilly’s header restored the lead shortly after.
Manchester City hosted Newcastle United in a Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on February 21, 2026, with kick-off at 8pm UK time. The game was broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and streamed on discovery+. City aimed to capitalize on Arsenal’s recent draw against Wolves, having won six and drawn one of their last seven matches across competitions, including a 5-1 aggregate victory over Newcastle in the EFL Cup semi-finals.
The first goal came in the 15th minute when Omar Marmoush found O’Reilly, who fired home to give City the lead. Newcastle equalized seven minutes later through Lewis Hall, whose strike from the edge of the box deflected off Rayan Ait-Nouri into the bottom corner. O’Reilly doubled his tally in the 27th minute, heading in Erling Haaland’s chipped cross after a move involving Antoine Semenyo.
Dan Burn’s header was ruled out for offside before halftime. In the second half, Hall nearly scored again with a free-kick that went narrowly wide. Newcastle pressed for an equalizer, with Nick Pope denying Haaland and substitute Phil Foden late on. Harvey Barnes forced a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma in stoppage time, but City held on.
Newcastle had arrived after a 6-1 Champions League win over Qarabag, marking the longest trip by an English club in the competition’s history. City’s lineup included Donnarumma, Rodri, Bernardo Silva as captain, Haaland, and O’Reilly. Newcastle started with Pope, Kieran Trippier, Hall, Burn, Sandro Tonali, Jacob Ramsey, Anthony Gordon, and Nick Woltemade.
Post-match, O’Reilly said, “I’m over the moon with tonight … the win was the most important thing … trying to close the gap and apply as much pressure as possible.” Pep Guardiola praised Newcastle: “Newcastle is incredible … awesome … physicality … speed … really tough but [we] were unbelievable.” Eddie Howe noted, “We were right in the game … disappointing with the two goals we conceded … they were out of context with the general performance.” Marc Guehi added, “A really good win today … it puts us in a really good position moving forward.”
City remain unbeaten in 21 home Premier League games against Newcastle, extending their winning streak to 17 at the Etihad.
