Harvey Barnes the hero at St James’s Park as Newcastle derail Man City’s run of good form in the recent weeks.
Harvey Barnes double helps Newcastle derail Manchester City revival.
At kickoff, Newcastle was ranked 15th in the Premier League due to their recent decline, but at the end of an always fascinating, occasionally chaotic evening, they had risen to Cloud Nine.
It is difficult to deny that Eddie Howe is a top-tier coach. At what cost did Liverpool eventually sign him as Arne Slot’s replacement? However, his record against Pep Guardiola was really poor prior to this historic victory. Howe has lost 14 and drawn two of his 16 prior Premier League games against Guardiola’s Manchester City with Bournemouth and Newcastle. That all changed when his team handed a potentially crippling blow to City’s title chances, with Harvey Barnes scoring twice. Guardiola’s team is now in third place, one point behind Arsenal and four points behind.It is difficult to deny that Eddie Howe is a top-tier coach. At what cost did Liverpool eventually sign him as Arne Slot’s replacement? However, his record against Pep Guardiola was really poor prior to this historic victory.
“Everything is fine with the referee,” he said, after claiming he did not see the incidents in questions. “VAR knows perfectly.” Turning serious, he added: “Newcastle are a top side with top players and a top manager, there was a momentum shift and, ultimately, we could not win.”
During the first forty-five minutes, which were interspersed with several opportunities lost by both teams, Haaland wasted a fantastic early opportunity. Everyone waited for the Norwegian to round Nick Pope once he was clean through, but for once, his robotic dependability in front of goal disappeared, and he botched an attempt to lift the ball over the custodian.
By halftime, VAR had also determined that Thiaw had failed to control a shot from Jimmy Doku, and Donnarumma had once again performed admirably by diving low to deflect a Woltemade strike. Nevertheless, if the £70 million striker had calibrated that shot a bit better, it might have been different.
In general, though, Newcastle’s performance was far superior to that of the previous several weeks. Here, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães switched midfield positions, with Tonali taking on the No. 8 role and Guimarães sliding into the No. 6 position. Howe is proud of his ability to reinvent himself.
However, City continued to have moments, which Foden frequently started. After a fast exchange of passes with Rayan Cherki, which ended with Cherki setting Foden up for what should have been a sitter, his finishing wasn’t particularly scorching. Importantly, that move started with a brilliant defense-bisecting ball from the powerful Rúben Dias.
City got off to a great start in the second half, but Thiaw’s deft challenge stopped Haaland in his tracks just as the visiting No. 9 was about to capitalise on Doku’s excellent ball by shooting past Pope. Thiaw’s analysis of Haaland was a master class.
Barnes’s finishing was the same. If Anthony Gordon hadn’t failed a late fitness test, the left winger most likely wouldn’t have started, but here he opened the score after playing a cute one-two with Guimarães before making up for a missed opportunity in the first half with a first-time shot so powerful and accurate that even Donnarumma couldn’t match it. Newcastle was unable to clear a corner very soon after Barnes’ opening goal in the bottom corner.
The ball was pushed back into the box by Doku, Foden, and finally Dias, whose shot went through Schär’s knees and past Pope, who was blind.
Guardiola was unable to unwind. Barnes was the first to react when Guimarães’ header bounced off the bar, scoring his sixth goal of the year with a volley. Against Guimarães, another VAR intervention was made to investigate a potential offside, but the goal stood, and Newcastle, who were now in a back five, looked completely revitalised. Howe had defeated Guardiola at the 17th top-tier attempt.