Newcastle secured a crucial 2-1 victory over Manchester City at St James' Park on Saturday evening, with Harvey Barnes scoring twice to hand Arsenal a major boost in the Premier League title race. The result keeps City four points adrift of the leaders and marked Eddie Howe's first win over Pep Guardiola's side.
Barnes opened the scoring in the 64th minute, but Manchester City equalized just four minutes later through Ruben Dias. The match turned on Barnes' controversial second goal in the 70th minute, which sparked immediate protests from City players and widespread fan complaints about a perceived offside.
VAR Controversy Sparks Confusion
The decisive goal came after Nick Woltemade headed the ball to Bruno Guimaraes, whose shot hit the crossbar before Barnes controlled the rebound and scored. City players immediately complained to the referee, believing Guimaraes was offside from Woltemade's header.
Former Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate shared the skepticism on BBC Radio 5 Live: «I think Guimaraes is offside from the Woltemade header.» One fan posted on social media: «What happened to the lines? Bruno surely offside there!»
After a lengthy VAR delay, the goal stood. The Premier League Match Centre later issued a detailed explanation: «The referee's call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with both Guimarães and Barnes in onside positions in the build-up. The VAR also checked and confirmed the referee's call of no foul on Donnarumma prior to the goal.»
The Match Centre post included images demonstrating that Dias' shoulder had played Guimaraes onside. Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was booked for protesting after the decision.
Title Race Impact
The defeat ended City's four-game winning streak and prevented them from cutting Arsenal's lead to just one point ahead of Sunday's north London derby. City remain third in the Premier League standings.
For Newcastle, the victory lifted them to 14th place, now four points off eighth-placed Tottenham. The win was described as vital after a period of worrying Premier League form for the Magpies.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
