Man City close gap on Chelsea

Manchester City recorded their biggest Premier League victory of the season to overwhelm Newcastle and cut Chelsea’s title lead to five points.
David Silva scored twice in an emphatic win as the champions took advantage of Burnley’s surprise draw at Stamford Bridge to give notice that their title defence is far from over.
With Yaya Toure back from the Africa Cup of Nations to add authority to their midfield and new £25m striker Wilfried Bony starting on the bench, City began with an intensity lacking from their recent performances at Etihad Stadium.
They made the perfect start when Newcastle gifted them a penalty after only 28 seconds, and went on to produce their most fluent attacking display of the season.
Helped by some more awful Newcastle defending, Samir Nasri soon made it 2-0 from Edin Dzeko’s cross before the Bosnia striker ended his 15-game goal drought to put the game beyond Newcastle with only 21 minutes gone.
Along with his energetic performance, the control and composure Dzeko showed to put away Silva’s pass was a sign to the watching Bony that he is not guaranteed his place.
But this was an evening where City’s entire attack impressed. While Manuel Pellegrini’s men have been pedestrian in possession in recent weeks, this time they were fast and furious in their attacks.
At the heart of it all was Toure, making more touches than any of his team-mates and orchestrating their slick one-touch passing game.