Manchester City’s Premier League title hopes suffered a major blow following a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side fell behind to Harvey Barnes’ second-half opener before Ruben Dias equalised for the visitors. But Barnes struck again for Newcastle with a contentious winner that stood after a lengthy VAR check for a potential offside involving Bruno Guimarães.
Guardiola insisted City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had been fouled in the build-up to Barnes’ second goal, and he was also angered by a rejected first-half penalty appeal from Phil Foden.
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The City boss stormed onto the pitch at full-time to confront referee Sam Barrott, though he later played down the outburst, saying, “Everything is fine.”
“It happened in the Bournemouth game, and it happened today again. It is what it is after VAR decided. They know perfectly,” Guardiola said, hinting at frustration over the decision. “You see, Donnarumma complained, and that is because something wrong happened.”
Despite an eventful contest, he admitted City were not at their best: “It was an entertaining game; we both had chances, and then there was a momentum shift, and ultimately we couldn’t win.”
Man City’s fourth league defeat of the season leaves them third, four points behind leaders Arsenal, who host Tottenham on Sunday.
The result also gave Eddie Howe his first Premier League victory against Guardiola’s side, easing the pain of Newcastle’s back-to-back defeats to West Ham and Brentford before the break.
