Omar Marmoush opens his Manchester City goal book with a sensational first-half hat-trick as Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed Newcastle 4-0 on Saturday, moving back into the Premier League top four.
The Egyptian forward, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in January for £59 million, stole the spotlight in a dominant performance that helped City bounce back from their midweek Champions League disappointment against Real Madrid.
Despite the 3-2 loss to Madrid at home, Marmoush’s trio of goals gave fans reason to be optimistic ahead of the return leg in Spain on Wednesday.
The match was expected to be a showdown between Premier League Golden Boot contenders Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak, but it was Marmoush who stole the show, scoring three times in the opening 33 minutes.
City had been looking to add another attacking threat to support Haaland, and Marmoush’s debut performance promises a strong partnership between the two.
Guardiola made six changes to his lineup, including starting Marmoush, who wasted no time in making an impact.
The goals came early: Marmoush capitalised on an Ederson assist, lobbing the goalkeeper with ease after Kieran Trippier failed to deal with a long kick.
The second goal was a deflected strike after a clever assist from Ilkay Gundogan, and the third arrived after Savinho’s dazzling run down the right wing, setting up Marmoush for a simple tap-in.
Despite some defensive fragility this season, City’s lead was never in danger as Newcastle’s hopes of a return to the Champions League suffered another blow. Eddie Howe’s team, now seventh, have lost three of their last four Premier League matches.
James McAtee added a fourth for City late in the game, tapping in a flick-on from Haaland following a corner. However, there was concern when Haaland was forced off in the final stages after picking up a knee injury.
