City title procession rolls on

70 yards of City keeper Ederson. With the visitors having almost 90 per cent of possession, it was no surprise chances soon arrived, despite the black and white wall in front of City.

Sergio Aguero might have scored twice in the opening 20 minutes.

From Fernandinho’s lofted pass, he stabbed against the foot of the far post and forced a stunning save out of Robbie Elliot, who acrobatically kept out his glancing header following Kevin De Bruyne’s free-kick.

The Belgian had gone close with a fizzing effort from the edge of the box after clever interplay between himself and Aguero.

Aguero went close again with a 25yard screamer which struck the upright before Sterling struck. With Newcastle affording De Bruyne far too much space, he delivered an inchperfect chip towards Sterling, who scored with a crisp half-volley.

It stirred Newcastle into an instant response.

When Kyle Walker failed to cut out DeAndre Yedlin’s cross, the ball dropped at the feet of Rolando Aarons, whose lob eluded Ederson, only for Nicolas Otamendi to head off the line under pressure from Joselu.

It was a fleeting moment for the Magpies, who quickly resorted to defending for their lives. Sterling forced another save out of Elliot, while Aguero was again sloppy in finishing when he bundled the loose ball wide.

There was no let-up after the break. Sterling scooped just wide, Elliot denied Ilkay Gundogan and De Bruyne crashed a drive against the post with Aguero’s follow-up disallowed for offside. Toon sub Dwight Gayle claimed a penalty under pressure from Danilo but was booked for diving.