Marmoush tormented Newcastle once again.
Omar Marmoush continued his outstanding record against Newcastle United as Manchester City moved into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win at St James’ Park.
City, despite trailing Arsenal by seven points in the Premier League, are still in the mix for a quadruple, though those hopes appeared to be in jeopardy when Harvey Barnes deservedly gave Newcastle an 18th-minute lead.
But City were substantially improved after going behind, and Savinho levelled after an intense period of pressure yielded dividends.
City did not let up thereafter, and a close-range finish from Marmoush followed by a rasping second from outside the box made it seven goals in five appearances against Newcastle, whose lone hopes of silverware this season now rest on an unlikely Champions League triumph.
Manchester City prove too much for Newcastle
Tijjani Reijnders fired an early warning shot when he narrowly missed the target after Nick Woltemade, back from an illness, lost possession in his own half.
Yet it looked as if Pep Guardiola’s decision to make 10 changes from the midweek draw with Nottingham Forest might backfire as Newcastle took control.
A William Osula header from a corner drew a bizarre attempt at a save from James Trafford, and Woltemade would have made it 1-0 had the alert Nico Gonzalez not cleared his header off the line.
Malick Thiaw then blazed over from point-blank range after good work from Sven Botman and Will Osula, before Barnes broke the deadlock.
Sandro Tonali continued his fine recent form with an excellently weighted throughball for Barnes, whose side-foot finish into the far corner left Trafford with no chance.
But that only served to spark City into life, with Savinho drawing a save from Aaron Ramsdale from a tight angle following a great run down the right.
City dominated possession, and their exerted pressure told when Jeremy Doku got the byline and his low cross bounced off Savinho, whose uniquely stationary approach to finishing paid off as the ball rolled over the line before Ramsdale could claw it away.
Reijnders was wasteful again after more brilliant work from Savinho but, though Newcastle survived until half-time with parity intact, it did not last long into the second half.
With Erling Haaland left out of the squad, Marmoush again proved Newcastle’s tormentor, as he converted from Matheus Nunes’ pull-back.
Marmoush then saw a drive repelled by Ramsdale, with Reijnders’ follow-up cleared off the line by Hall. Nico O’Reilly then forced Ramsdale to turn behind with a header from the resulting corner.
But Ramsdale could do nothing to stop Marmoush from lashing home a stunning second, his goal leaving a Newcastle side tired from their exertions with 10 men in the win over Manchester United with too much of a mountain to climb.
Matters get no easier for Newcastle on Tuesday as they face Barcelona in the Champions League, while a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to face Real Madrid awaits City on Wednesday.
