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NEWCASTLE'S HARVEY BARNES STUNS MAN CITY, DELIVERS MASSIVE BLOW TO TITLE ASPIRATIONS
Newcastle beat Man City 2-1 in a controversial Premier League clash at St James' Park. Harvey Barnes scored twice, with the winner standing after a lengthy VAR check, leaving Pep Guardiola furious.
Barnes' second-half goal at St. James' Park gave Pep Guardiola's squad the initial setback before Ruben Dias secured an equalizer for the visiting team.
Shortly after Dias' levelling goal, Barnes successfully scored a contested second goal for Newcastle, which, following an extended VAR examination for a possible offside involving Bruno Guimaraes, was ultimately validated.
Guardiola expressed his displeasure concerning a penalty appeal made by Phil Foden during the first half as well.
Following their fourth league loss of the season, City fell to third position in the standings, trailing Arsenal, who are in first place and will play Tottenham on Sunday, by four points.
Guardiola stated that it was too early in the week to discuss the championship race, yet the City manager will certainly be very disappointed to have missed the opportunity to put pressure on Arsenal.
After defeating struggling defending champions Liverpool 3-0 before the international break, City had won seven of their eight games across all leagues.
However, they lost that momentum in an error-filled performance on Tyneside as Erling Haaland, in his 21st game for City and Norway this year, failed to score for just the third occasion.
Haaland was aiming to record his 100th league goal in what would have been his 109th appearance since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
Nevertheless, he squandered several opportunities, and Newcastle seized the chance to defeat City for the second time in the previous 36 league encounters.
Eddie Howe's initial victory over City in 19 Premier League matches lessened the disappointment of Newcastle's consecutive league losses against West Ham and Brentford leading up to the international break.
City's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, nearly gifted Newcastle the advantage within the first 30 seconds with a terrible pass that Barnes intercepted, but the winger squandered the opportunity by shooting straight at the Italian from 10 yards.
Profligate City
Haaland was equally responsible for an awful miss moments later, awkwardly failing to chip the ball over Nick Pope after the Newcastle keeper responded to Jeremy Doku's pass by rushing recklessly from his goal area.
Newcastle's opening goal was prevented by Donnarumma, who made an excellent save to deny Nick Woltemade's header from Tino Livramento's pass.
Foden fired wide from a promising spot within the box before unsuccessfully requesting a penalty after Fabian Schar left him in agony with a strong tackle during the same play.
Foden and the City coaching staff were angered by the ruling, and their annoyance grew when Jacob Murphy avoided giving up a penalty after using his arm to block Doku's shot.
Donnarumma prevailed in a different struggle against Woltemade as he turned aside the German's strike following his breakaway towards goal.
In a half marked by poor finishing, Barnes committed the worst blunder by failing to shoot on target from close range when the goal was undefended.
Even Haaland was off his game, flicking Nico O'Reilly's cross right at Pope from only five yards.
Remarkably, the unmarked Foden made an even worse error, dragging his shot wide from Rayan Cherki's pass just before halftime.
Barnes redeemed himself for prior errors by scoring a fantastic goal in the 64th minute, giving City the decisive breakthrough; his well-placed, ground-level shot from just outside the box bypassed Donnarumma, thanks to Guimaraes' incisive run and pass that unlocked the opposing team's back line.
Guardiola's squad was only behind for a brief period of four minutes.
Silva's attempt was stopped, sending the ball in Dias' direction, and the Portuguese defender's strong shot from about 11 meters took a deflection off Schar and went into the net.
Nevertheless, Howe's team immediately responded to Dias's first league goal since his score at Newcastle four years prior.
When Woltemade directed his header across the face of the goal, Guimaraes' header hit the crossbar, and Barnes was there to put the loose ball into the net with a volley.
The extended VAR review to check if Guimaraes was offside initially looked to be in City's advantage but ultimately favoured Newcastle, leading to enthusiastic celebrations from the Magpies supporters commemorating a noteworthy triumph.
EDDIE HOWE SHUTS DOWN BBC GOSSIP REGARDING NICK WOLTEMADE’S NEWCASTLE FUTURE
Eddie Howe slams "unhappy" rumours! Discover why Nick Woltemade feels at home at Newcastle despite BILD and BBC transfer gossip.
Eddie Howe isn’t having any of it; he’s shot down the rumours that Nick Woltemade wants out of Newcastle United.
You might’ve seen it: some German journalist, Raimund Hinko, tossed out the idea in BILD that Woltemade’s unhappy on Tyneside and would rather be back at Stuttgart or maybe Bayern Munich. Then the BBC’s gossip column picked it up, slapped on a catchy line, and suddenly everyone’s talking about it. The story even landed back with Howe, who, let’s be honest, has probably heard enough transfer gossip to last him a lifetime.
Sure, Woltemade’s had his ups and downs this season. That happens. But he’s already hit double digits in his first year, and lately, he’s looked right at home in a new, deeper role. So when talk started swirling about him being miserable at Newcastle, Howe didn’t hesitate to set the record straight.
“He seems really, really happy,” Howe said. “What you see is what you get with Nick, always laughing, a great presence in the dressing room. He and Malik Thiaw have gotten pretty close, which is good to see. And honestly, everyone likes him. The squad really respects him and loves his attitude, and he’s always about the team.
“He’s just a good guy. Doesn’t take himself too seriously; he fits right in. So, when I hear these reports that he’s unhappy, it just doesn’t match the player I know.
“And on the pitch, he’s looked great lately. I’m really happy with what he’s doing. He’s performing at a high level, no issues at all.”
And it’s not just Howe saying so. Woltemade himself spoke to GQ and made it clear he feels like he belongs at Newcastle. After that brutal own goal against Sunderland in December, he braced himself for the worst. But instead of criticism, he found nothing but support from the fans.
“It was an awful feeling,” Woltemade admitted. “I’d never scored an own goal before, especially not in that match. Sitting on the bench after getting subbed, I thought the fans would destroy me. But when I checked my phone, it was just positive messages.
“That helped me a lot. I know how much that game meant to everyone. I was so grateful. It showed me I’m in the right place.”
And he bounced back fast. The next week, he scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea, and St James’ Park was singing his name.
“The whole crowd was singing for me – unbelievable. That own goal could’ve wrecked my season, but instead, the fans lifted me. It turned out to be the best feeling.”
SHEARER’S RECORD BROKEN: HOW ANTHONY GORDON BECAME NEWCASTLE’S ALL-TIME CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SCORING LEADER
Anthony Gordon makes history: Discover how his four goals vs Qarabag broke Alan Shearer’s record in Newcastle's 6-1 victory.
Anthony Gordon ran riot in Baku, firing four goals as Newcastle United steamrolled Qarabag and all but sealed their Champions League last-16 play-off.
Eddie Howe had talked about turning nights like this into club history, and his team really delivered. This was Newcastle’s biggest-ever European win, and they did it on Qarabag’s turf at the Tofig Bahramov Stadium.
Now, Qarabag aren’t pushovers. They’ve drawn with Chelsea, beaten Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt, and even seen off Copenhagen. But they looked completely outmatched from the start. Newcastle just tore into them. Gordon, especially, was unstoppable. He didn’t just give Qarabag headaches; he became Newcastle’s all-time top scorer in the Champions League, overtaking Alan Shearer in the process.
It took him two minutes. Dan Burn charged forward from the back, slipped Gordon through, and Gordon finished coolly into the bottom corner. Newcastle smelled blood. Kieran Trippier swung in a dangerous cross, and Malick Thiaw rose highest to nod in the second. Qarabag’s manager, Gurban Gurbanov, tried to regroup his shell-shocked players, but Newcastle just kept coming.
A few minutes later, Harvey Barnes fired at goal, and Matheus Silva blocked it with his arm. VAR told the referee to check the replay, and Newcastle got a penalty. Gordon stepped up. Kochalski, the Qarabag keeper, guessed right and got a hand to it, but Gordon’s shot was too strong.
And Gordon wasn’t done. Right after the restart, Qarabag defender Kevin Medina made a mess of it, Gordon pounced, rounded Kochalski, and tucked in his third. Then, just before halftime, Kochalski brought Gordon down in the box. Another penalty. Gordon took it himself; no chance for Kochalski this time either. Four goals, and it wasn’t even the break yet.
Qarabag did manage to pull one back after halftime. Elvin Cafarquliyev squeezed one in from a tight angle, but any hope didn’t last. Jacob Murphy came off the bench and scored a deflected long-range goal to restore Newcastle’s five-goal cushion.
Gordon had said a few weeks ago that Champions League teams “are much more open; they all try and play.” He couldn’t have been more right. This was new territory for both clubs, their first-ever knockout tie in the Champions League, but Newcastle looked like they belonged. The gap in quality was massive.
Howe picked a strong lineup. He respected Qarabag, but he also knew they’d leave space, and Gordon made the most of it. Even after his hat trick, he insisted on taking the second penalty instead of handing it over to Nick Woltemade. Trippier, the stand-in captain, didn’t look too happy about that when they left the pitch, but Gordon’s hunger is part of what makes him so dangerous.
Honestly, Newcastle could’ve scored even more. Kochalski actually made some great saves, but Newcastle had 22 shots, 14 on target, and 39 touches in Qarabag’s box. In the end, they “settled” for six goals.
With the tie pretty much wrapped up, Howe can rest players for the return leg at St. James’ Park. But you just know Gordon will be itching to add to his ten Champions League goals this season.
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