Manchester City vs. Newcastle: Score, Grades, Reaction from Premier League Game

Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United

David Silva struck a brace as Manchester City delivered an ominous warning to Barcelona with a clinical five-goal demolition of Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.

Manuel Pellegrini's side will line up against the Camp Nou stars on Tuesday in the Champions League last-16 first leg on the back of a convincing victory that saw the Premier League holders cut the deficit on Chelsea to five points.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Vurnon Anita felled Edin Dzeko in the area after just 27 seconds.

The Bosnia international was then involved again when his pass deflected into the path of Silva for the Spain international to make it 2-0 in the 12th minute.

With new signing Wilfried Bony watching from the bench, Dzeko put a further marker on the game when he slotted home City's third goal after a superb Silva pass over the top in the 20th minute.

Silva claimed his double inside two second-half minutes before being withdrawn from the game in the 59th minute in preparation for the Barcelona tie.

Yaya Toure returned to the City line-up after returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast while Dzeko also started in place of Fernando and the injured James Milner.

Newcastle head coach John Carver made one change to his team, with Anita replacing the injured Remy Cabella.

Anita was involved in the action immediately, as City were awarded a penalty after just 27 seconds of the match.

The midfielder failed to control the ball fully, allowing Dzeko to capitalise, but Anita brought down the striker inside the box as he recovered, and Aguero coolly slotted home past Tim Krul from the spot.

In the 12th minute, City doubled their lead when Dzeko attempted to find Aguero inside the area, but Daryl Janmaat deflected the ball into the path of Samir Nasri, who fired home.

Dzeko was involved once more in the 20th minute when Pablo Zabaleta left the Bosnian's cross for Aguero, whose first-time shot drifted just wide after evading a touch from David Silva.

Just one minute later, Dzeko was on the score sheet when he collected a tremendous flighted pass from Silva inside the area before volleying beyond Krul.

With the game effectively ended as a contest, the only further moment of incident of the first half came when referee Chris Foy cautioned Vincent Kompany in the 37th minute for a foul on Papiss Cisse.

Mehdi Abeid replaced the unfortunate Anita for the second half, and almost immediately after the restart, Newcastle began to threaten when Cisse forced a great save from Joe Hart with a volley inside the area.

But City added a fourth in the 51st minute to allow Pellegrini to focus on Barcelona before the end of the game.

Aguero chased a ball down the left flank before moving inside and played the ball to Nasri on his right. The France international played it back to Silva, who slotted beyond Krul.

Less than two minutes later, Silva struck again when Aguero chested a Toure ball over the top into the path of the Spaniard. The ball sat up invitingly for the midfielder, and he fired home from the edge of the Newcastle area.

If the points hadn't been won in the first half, they certainly were before the hour mark, and Pellegrini withdrew Silva and Aguero in preparation for the visit of Barcelona.

Jesus Navas replaced Silva while January signing Bony was introduced to a warm reception from the Etihad crowd.

In a further switch with Barcelona in mind, Frank Lampard came on to replace Nasri in the 70th minute while Ryan Taylor replaced Janmaat for Newcastle.

And the Magpies' substitute almost gifted Dzeko a hat-trick when his poor first touch saw the striker race in on goal, but Krul spared Taylor's blushes by blocking well.

Bony was denied a debut goal in the 76th minute when Toure played Krul's clearance first time into the path of the forward. But the Netherlands international recovered to block his effort.

With eight minutes remaining, Dzeko blotted his own excellent display when he deliberately handled the ball from a corner to earn a needless yellow card.

But Dzeko had done more damage to Newcastle than himself while Silva's treble sounded an ominous warning to Barcelona.

Selected Player Ratings

Edin Dzeko: A

The Manchester City striker set a blistering pace in the opening 20 minutes by playing a significant role in all three goals. It was a performance to send a warning to new signing Bony that he is in no mood to relinquish his first-team place to the big-money signing.

Vurnon Anita: C-

Returned to the Newcastle starting XI and almost immediately probably regretted it when he conceded a penalty after just 27 seconds. The Newcastle midfielder struggled to make any impact on the game beyond that point and was substituted at half-time.

David Silva: A+

The Manchester City midfielder has hit top form at exactly the right time, and while his two goals will act as a warning to Barcelona, his pass for Dzeko's first-half goal was the high point of his game.

Post-Match Reaction