Erling Haaland run will worry Arsenal as Man City come alive again

Manchester City have improved in the last six weeks and scored a goal that they weren't capable of to beat Newcastle

Pep Guardiola insists that titles races are new to this version of Manchester City. Their proven winners have moved on after 18 months of change, leaving behind few survivors and a new intake of untested potential.

As is usual, the City manager has a point - just three of the side that started the second half of this game have won multiple Premier League titles with City, with six of them arriving in the last three transfer windows. Even if some of them have won trophies elsewhere with other clubs - Gianluigi Donnarumma claimed a treble with PSG last season - this is pretty new territory for Guardiola in his tenth season in charge.

It will delight the manager then that there was a familiar feel to the Etihad on Saturday night from the very first whistle. The South Stand began the game reminding the club not to shun the next generation of supporters as the team were welcomed onto the pitch by the 1976 League Cup winners, and from then there was a crackle to the crowd that arrives when something special is sensed.

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That is down to the position City have earned for themselves up to this point, but the last two weeks have helped. As confidence among Blues soared after the Anfield comeback, Arsenal dropping points in successive games has heightened the sense that the title may be there to be won after all.

With a week of rest for players and supporters alike, they collectively tore into Newcastle from the off and it was a slick, sharp move that saw Nico O'Reilly hammer in the opening goal inside 15 minutes. That would be the first of two goals for the homegrown star who is turning into a Premier League powerhouse.

Before then, City were pegged back scrappily, failing to clear a corner properly and seeing Lewis Hall's shot from the edge of the box deflect in off Rayan Ait-Nouri. It wasn't the only jittery moment for the Blues defensively with Donnarumma shaky from set-pieces, and highlights why it is premature to think of this City team as a winning machine.

They are certainly whirring into action though, and the goal to retake the lead showed the big changes at the club over the last six weeks. January signing Antoine Semenyo beat Nick Woltemade to progress into the final third, Haaland peeled off Hall with a run that he simply wasn't making at his most tired last month and his cross saw O'Reilly steaming in from his new midfield berth to head home.

That goal would not have happened during City's run of one win in six at the start of the year, and with Ruben Dias on a booking at half-time Guardiola now also has the squad depth to take him off. Partnering another January signing in Marc Guehi for the second half was Abdukodir Khusanov, who was flawless and a valuable asset to counter the pace of Newcastle up front.

It took everything for City to keep Newcastle out in the second half, with Haaland ending the game flat out on the floor in his own box as Donnarumma and the City defence celebrated together. The backdrop was the roar of the Etihad and then a belting out of Blue Moon.

City still have their issues, but everyone inside the Etihad is stirring again. To borrow from Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola's side are warming up and Arsenal will be trembling that little bit more.

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