Rafael Benitez has insisted that Manchester City were fortunate to be awarded a penalty at a crucial point in their 3-1 win over Newcastle United this evening.

The Citizens were a goal up when Javier Manquillo was penalised for a trip on opposition winger Raheem Sterling, allowing Sergio Aguero to net the second of his three goals.

Jacob Murphy pulled one back for the visitors prior to Aguero's hat-trick moment, and Benitez was happy with the character shown by his side to grab a temporary lifeline at the Etihad Stadium.

"I think that we wanted to stay in the game and we did it, the penalty was a bit soft and it changed everything," he told BBC Sport. "After we score we had a couple of chances. They are a very good team, our reaction was quite good.

"We changed at the end and played with four at the back, the idea was to stay solid and try to regain and play counter attack. At the beginning we were giving the ball away easily. To find the balance between defending and attacking is what we were trying to do.

"I have been praising the players the whole season in terms of effort, sometimes it's a bit of luck. If you have a little bit of luck you can be ahead in some games."

Newcastle, who return to action next weekend with a trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup, find themselves two points above the Premier League dropzone.