Jack Grealish's perfect Manchester City response against 'brilliant' Newcastle United

After throwing away a two goal aggregate lead against Real Madrid in stoppage time on Wednesday night, Pep Guardiola’s side returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 5-0 win over The Magpies at the Etihad Stadium.

A Raheem Sterling brace plus goals from Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Phil Foden saw City run out as convincing winners as they moved three points clear of Liverpool in second.

"We knew there'd be pressure on us today after the defeat, we bounced back perfectly,” Grealish told Sky Sports. “We've stuck together which was needed.

"We'll try to end the season strongly and we did that today."

The convincing scoreline also provided a crucial goal difference boost over Liverpool in addition to their three point advantage.

“[Goal difference] wasn't really spoken about but it's common sense,” Grealish added. “We want to win the league so we see it ourselves.

"The main thing was to get the win. You can't speak about goal difference before you've won the game.”

Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Eddie Howe’s side in his programme notes and Grealish was also quick to praise the club following the match.

"Newcastle have been brilliant since January,” he continued. “Today was a perfect response and a perfect performance.

"We just have to go out there and win every game. We're in the driving seat. We can't look at what's going on around us. Fingers crossed.”

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