Newcastle 2-1 Man City: Barnes hits double as Blues miss chance to close EPL gap

Harvey Barnes fired Newcastle United to a memorable victory against Manchester City in a rip-roaring Premier League contest.

Match Report

Barnes, who also opened the scoring, prodded home from inside the box to secure all three points at a raucous St James' Park.

Ruben Dias earlier equalised for the visitors when his effort took a deflection off Fabian Schar after Newcastle failed to clear their lines from a corner.

But Newcastle showed their own powers of recovery to retake the lead a few minutes later.

Jacob Murphy swung the ball into the box and, although Bruno Guimaraes' header cannoned off the bar, Barnes was in the right place to hook the ball into the net.

There was a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) check for offside, but the goal stood to send St James' into raptures once more.

It was just the response head coach Eddie Howe wanted as his side bounced back following a bruising 3-1 defeat at Brentford before the international break to claim a rare win against Pep Guardiola's team.

The hosts eventually found a way past towering City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who earlier made three big saves to deny Nick Woltemade.

City, however, will rue a missed opportunity after they had the chance to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal to a point.

Guardiola's side were not happy that Newcastle's winner stood and they were also furious in the first half after they had a huge penalty appeal waved away when Phil Foden went down under a challenge from Schar.

But, like Newcastle, they still had their chances to take control of the contest, with Erling Haaland denied after Nick Pope stood tall to block his first-time effort following Nico O'Reilly's pullback.

Haaland, whose wait to become the fastest player to 100 Premier League goals goes on a little longer, saw an attempted chip bounce harmlessly wide after Jeremy Doku played him through in the opening stages, while Foden failed to find the target from close range after exchanging a neat one-two with Rayan Cherki.

But this was to be Newcastle's evening as Howe secured his first Premier League win against Manchester City.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

1' Donnarumma makes a huge mistake but Barnes' shot is saved

3' Haaland tries a shot but Pope has come right out of his net to meet the ball

7' Cherki opts to fire goalwards from a tight angle but Pope saves at his near post

12' A sensational save from Donnarumma to deny Woltemade's header!

13' Newcastle are screaming for a penalty as Hall goes down but the referee says no

18' Foden gets down in the box but the referee says no pen after VAR review

26' Woltemade gets a powerful effort off but it's another big save from Donnarumma

31' CLOSE! Murphy squares across to Barnes who pokes it wide

35' CHANCE! O'Reilly cuts it back but Haaland's finish is straight into Pope

41' Foden misses a great chance from Cherki's low cross

57' Once again a massive save from Donnarumma rescues City!

63' GOAL! Barnes breaks the deadlock with a powerful finish! Newcastle 1-0 Man City

68' GOAL! Dias equalizes in the box from Silva's cross! Newcastle 1-1 Man City

70' GOAL! Barnes quickly takes hosts back in front! Newcastle 2-1 Man City

80' Now we see the lines for the goal as Dias' shirt sleeve was playing Bruno on

87' Savinho snatches at the shot and sends it over the bar

Line-ups

Newcastle XI: Schar, Pope, J.Murphy, Joelinton, Guimaraes, Barnes, Tonali, Tino Livramento, Malick Thiaw, Nick Woltemade, Lewis Hall

Subs: Ruddy, Ramsdale, Willock, Sven Botman, Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, Alex Murphy, Lewis Miley, Sean Neave

Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Foden, Matheus Nunes, Nico González, Cherki, Doku, Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly

Subs: Ake, Stones, Omar Marmoush, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, James Trafford, Bobb, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov