Manchester City blew Newcastle United away at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon to cut the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to just five points.

The hosts were three up inside 21 minutes as Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko added to Sergio Aguero's early penalty.

They were not finished there, though, with David Silva grabbing two goals of his own in as many minutes at the start of the second half to seal an emphatic 5-0 victory.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether City were worthy of such a convincing winning margin.

Match statistics

MAN CITY
Shots: 16
On target: 9
Possession: 57%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 9

NEWCASTLE
Shots: 8
On target: 1
Possession: 43%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 8

Was the result fair?

Absolutely. In fact, the one-sided nature of the scoreline doesn't even do Manchester City justice. They dominated from start to finish this afternoon and could have won by however many they wanted. They took their foot off the gas after the third goal in the first half, and then again having added two more in the second, but, had they played with the same intensity shown in the opening 20 minutes throughout, then they could have been approaching double figures in this game.

Newcastle actually responded fairly well to conceding a penalty inside 30 seconds of the start, but it was the second goal that really killed the Magpies off. The third completely ended the game as a contest, and City rarely moved out of second gear from that point on. It really was that comfortable for the champions.

It is a little surprising that the statistics are not more in favour of City. At one stage, they were carving through Newcastle at will, and the only criticism of the hosts would be that they overplayed at times, having already won the match in the first half. There is absolutely no doubt that they deserved to run out emphatic winners today.

Man City's performance

Today could not have gone much better for Manchester City. Buoyed by the fact Chelsea had unexpectedly dropped points at home to Burnley, City began quickly and had the match wrapped up before the midway point in the first half. They were given a helping hand by some poor Newcastle defending, particularly for the very early opener, but City still played some nice stuff and look to be right back to their best following a disappointing January.

With Barcelona on the horizon, having the game won so early was a double advantage as they were able to go into cruise control for the vast majority of the afternoon. The likes of Dzeko, Silva and Nasri all put in brilliant performances, and, had they decided to turn the screw, then this could have been eight, nine or maybe even more. As it was, 5-0 is still their biggest win of the season, and this was certainly among their best displays of the campaign too.

The result not only succeeded in cutting the gap to five points once again, but it also sent out a statement to Chelsea. City are not giving up on their title without a fight and, with the leaders in some questionable form right now, the nature of this victory today will have all involved with the club - and many outsiders - believing that they can still catch Jose Mourinho's men.

Newcastle's performance

As good as City were today, Newcastle were equally as poor. Under John Carver, results have been mixed so far, but the performances have generally been encouraging. However, the interim boss will have to look long and hard for any positives to take from today's debacle. His side were a distant second best in every single area of the field and never looked like troubling City, with a long-range Daryl Janmaat effort and a Papiss Cisse volley early in the second half the only hints of highlights for the visitors.

In fairness to the Magpies, they did not immediately buckle after a nightmare start. Their game plan went out of the window inside 30 seconds with the penalty, but Newcastle responded with a few long-range shots. However, their heads dropped when Nasri scored in the 12th minute, and, from that point on, it was a shambles. They completely lost their shape and defensively they were all over the place at times, even accounting for the quality of opposition that they were up against.

Perhaps wisely, Newcastle went into damage-limitation mode after the third goal and began packing 10 men behind the ball. Even so, the only reason that City did not score more than five today was because they took things easy for long periods. An injury to Janmaat and suspension for Jack Colback made a bad day even worse, and Carver will want to get this damaging result and miserable performance behind him as quickly as possible.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Edin Dzeko: Take your pick. A number of City players shone today, but this award is probably a toss-up between Dzeko and Silva. The former gets the nod on this occasion due to the added pressure on his shoulders with Wilfried Bony watching on from the bench. Dzeko was heavily involved in the three early goals that killed the game off, winning the penalty, setting up the second and then scoring a fabulous third to end a five-month drought.

Biggest gaffe

We had to wait less than 30 seconds for our gaffe of the game today. Mike Williamson played the ball inside to Vurnon Anita, whose touch on the edge of his own box was poor and allowed Dzeko to nip in. Anita then proceeded to clip the heel of Dzeko and, while the contact was minimal, it was enough to award a penalty that went a long way towards determining the one-sided nature of the game.

Referee performance

Chris Foy was called into action early and was not afraid to point to the spot inside the opening minute. As previously mentioned, the contact was slight, but the referee was right to award a penalty. Foy was perhaps too inconsistent with his bookings, showing Yaya Toure a harsh card having let Fabricio Coloccini off for a rash knee-high tackle on Aguero earlier in the game, but it was a fairly easy afternoon for the official on the whole.

What next?

Man City: European giants Barcelona await on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash, which will take place at the Etihad. Their next league match comes against Liverpool at Anfield next Sunday.

Newcastle: Newcastle have rather less glamorous visitors for their next match, with Tim Sherwood's struggling Aston Villa coming to St James' Park next Saturday.