LAST season, Newcastle United and Manchester City played in different divisions. Tonight, they might as well have been playing a different sport.

The record books will show that Newcastle were only one goal inferior to the side that will undoubtedly be crowned champions in May, but the reality is that the two teams were separated by a gulf far wider than the one that separates England’s top two divisions. The Premier League might market itself as the most competitive league in the world, but nights such as this prove just how far Manchester City have pulled clear of the rest.

Newcastle’s season will not be defined by how they perform against the best team in the country, and with a crucial home game against Brighton now just two days away, Rafael Benitez will be happy to have left St James’ Park last night having avoided both embarrassment and injury.

Raheem Sterling’s first-half strike ultimately proved decisive, and while City hit the woodwork on three occasions, they rarely threatened to condemn Newcastle to the kind of thrashing that others have experienced this season.

To that end, Benitez can claim that his unashamedly defensive approach was justified. Newcastle avoided a hiding, and were even able to push men forward in the final five minutes in the knowledge that an equaliser was possible. That it never felt likely probably said as much about City’s brilliance as Newcastle’s failings.

Nevertheless, the night still ended with the Magpies having suffered a fifth successive home defeat in the league for the first time since 1953. It goes without saying that that run simply has to end when Chris Hughton brings Brighton to Tyneside at the weekend.

It is safe to assume Newcastle will approach things rather differently on Saturday. If you try to take on Manchester City at their own game, you tend to get annihilated. So Benitez’s decision to switch to five at the back, with two defensive players at the base of midfield, was understandable. Ever the pragmatist, Benitez was never going to be drawn into attack-against-attack.

Even so, the sight of Newcastle regularly pulling all ten of their outfield players to within 30 yards of their own goal was still remarkable. Manchester City boasted 87 per cent of possession in the opening quarter-of-an-hour, a staggering statistic that said much about Newcastle’s approach. This wasn’t just parking the bus, it was lining up an entire bus depot in front of the Gallowgate End.

Should Newcastle have been so defensive? Some will argue it was demeaning to adopt such a conservative approach at St James’ Park, but the reality is that Manchester City have torn apart much better teams than Newcastle this season.

Pep Guardiola’s side are threatening to rewrite every record in the book, and it would have been naïve to attempt to outplay them, such is the extent of their dominance at the top of the table.

If you’re going to adopt a wholly defensive approach though, you’d better be damned good at defending. Ultimately, Newcastle’s tactics failed because even with all their players behind the ball, they were unable to prevent Manchester City creating chances.

Faced with a black-and-white wall, the league leaders simply passed their way through it. Guardiola wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, and the Spaniard’s philosophy was evident in his 11th-minute response to Vincent Kompany’s latest injury. With Eliaquim Mangala on the bench, Guardiola could have made a like-for-like change. Instead, he swapped a centre-half for a centre-forward, and told Gabriel Jesus to make a nuisance of himself in the 18-yard box.

City had already struck the woodwork before Kompany went off, with Sergio Aguero peeling off Paul Dummett to volley Fernandinho’s floated cross against the base of the right-hand post.

Twenty minutes later, and Aguero was hitting the woodwork again as he cut in from the left-hand side to drill in a long-range effort that also clipped the foot of the upright.

Aguero’s ability to find space was remarkable given the number of players in Newcastle’s massed defence. Time and again, the Argentinian somehow managed to peel off his marker, creating a foot of space for his team-mates to exploit.

His relationship with Kevin de Bruyne often appears to be based on intuition, and when the City midfielder delivered an inswinging first-half free-kick, Aguero produced a goal-bound header that was superbly tipped over by Rob Elliot.

Newcastle’s goal was leading a charmed life, but City were not to be denied forever. De Bruyne’s brilliance saw to that, with the Belgian lofting a sensational chipped pass over the top of the Newcastle defence 14 minutes before the break.

Sterling peeled behind Chancel Mbemba to meet it, and while Elliot left his line to try to close down the angle, the England winger was able to guide home a first-time volley. Gareth Southgate, watching on from the St James’ Park stands, must be delighted with Sterling’s remarkable run of form in the last few months.

Newcastle’s only effort prior to falling behind had seen Jonjo Shelvey shoot at goal straight from the kick-off, but from nowhere, the hosts almost fashioned an equaliser towards the end of the first half.

Kyle Walker’s slip enabled DeAndre Yedlin’s cross to reach Rolando Aarons, and the winger displayed impressive creativity to chip a shot over Ederson in the Manchester City goal. The ball looked to be heading in, but a back-tracking Nicolas Otamendi produced an excellent clearance that saw him head the ball over his own crossbar from close to the goalline.

Normal service was soon resumed, with Jesus pulling the ball back for Sterling to fire in a low shot that Elliot saved, and the second half continued in exactly the same one-sided pattern as the first.

Wave after wave of Manchester City attacks washed towards the Leazes End, but Newcastle’s creaking defence just about held firm. Aguero narrowly missed Sterling’s low cross as he slid in at the back post, Elliot pushed away Ilkay Gundogan’s low effort, and in one of the night’s most surprising episodes, de Bruyne pushed a shot miles wide of the target after a one-two with Jesus. Even the greatest have their off moments.

Newcastle’s lack of adventure remained unaltered despite them being a goal behind, although Benitez’s 62nd-minute decision to replace Joselu with Dwight Gayle at least represented an acknowledgment that an increased goalscoring threat was required in the final half-hour.

It didn’t really materialise, with City continuing to pile incessant pressure on their opponents’ goal. They struck the woodwork for a third time midway through the second half, with de Bruyne curling an excellent effort against the right-hand post. Aguero tapped in the rebound, but was rightly flagged offside.

Newcastle’s had two sniffs of an equaliser in the closing stages, but neither resulted in a goal. First, Gayle found himself in a shooting position as Manchester City’s defence conceded possession cheaply, but rather than firing at goal, he went down under a non-existent challenge from Danilo and was rightly booked for diving. Then, Newcastle’s substitute striker met Christian Atsu’s cross with a diving header, but his effort drifted wide.