Yaya Toure scored his third career Premier League goal against Newcastle on 78 minutes to bury home hopes after Demba Ba (51) had given Alan Pardew's side fresh hope with City leading 2-0 at half-time courtesy of goals from Sergio Aguero (10) and Javi Garcia (39).
Yaya Toure has scored more goals against Newcastle than any Premier League club. All three have come in the last two matches at St James' Park including a key one during their march to the title in the death throes of last term.
City are three points behind Manchester United before the league leaders host Sunderland later on Saturday.
Newcastle never truly recovered from a slipshod opening to the match when Santon was caught ball watching as Roberto Mancini's side moved ahead on 10 minutes.
Samir Nasri bounded away from the home left-back after a lovely pass by Yaya Toure before crossing for Aguero to tap the ball home.
Aguero ended a run of four Premier League matches without a goal. It was also his first Premier League away goal since September 29 at Fulham.
It was a brilliant move by the Premier League champions and provided a glimpse of what was to come in the rest of the first period as Newcastle struggled to cope with the pace of City's flurries forward.
Despite their obvious class, City benefited from another horrid moment for Santon to move two to the good when Santon missed Garcia's header defending a post from a David Silva corner as the ball trickled into the net, much to the disbelief of the home players.
Newcastle's best moments of the first period came from a series of free-kicks thrown into the visiting area as Joe Hart made fine stops on three minutes to claw away an effort by Papiss Demba Cisse on three minutes and a Mike Williamson effort on 26 minutes.
But it was clear Newcaslte were a distant second to the visiting team as time and time again they were cut open by the cutting pace of the City attack.
Tim Krul was forced to block a Tevez volley on 12 minutes with Tevez almost connecting with a Nasri ball across the face of the home goal three minutes later. Newcastle managed to display some resolve after half-time.
They were given fresh hope when Ba headed home from Fabricio Coloccini's cross, but could not find the equaliser their fans craved as Cisse drove an effort over when he looked likelier to score from the edge of the box.
Toure prodded a Pablo Zabaleta cutback into his net to finally secure the win for the delighted visiting fan with 11 minutes remaining.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Yaya Toure (Manchester City) - Superb contribution as Newcastle recovered well in the second period. Involved in the first goal, scored the third and was a real powerhouse in the midfield area for his side.
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