Harvey Barnes scored a brace as Newcastle United defeated Manchester City 2-1 at St. James’ Park on Saturday to hand Pep Guardiola’s side their fourth loss in the Premier League this season.
The result meant that Man City missed the opportunity to reduce Arsenal’s league lead to one point while also failing to leapfrog Chelsea for the second position on the table. Arsenal will host Tottenham in their matchday 12 game on Sunday.
After a wasteful first half with both teams missing several chances to break the deadlock, Barnes opened the scoring for the hosts in the 63rd minute after he clinically latched a pass from Bruno Guimaraes into the bottom-left corner of the post.
However, Man City struck back five minutes later through Ruben Dias after the defender’s shot from a loose corner kick inside the box was deflected into the net by Fabian Schar’s legs.
Newcastle United restored their lead almost immediately through Barnes, who pounced on a rebounded ball from Guimaraes’ header that hit the bar from close range to make it 2-1.
Barnes had the chance to make it a hat trick on the night after Guimaraes set him up with a through pass, but the ball was cleared by Matheus Nunes.
The hosts managed to defend the lead until the end, making it the first time since 2019 that Newcastle United had managed to secure a win over Man City and the second time in 36 Premier League matches.
Reacting after the game, Guardiola said there was nothing disappointing about the defeat against Newcastle United, noting that his players gave everything.
“We gave everything; we wanted to make a step like we have done in the last two months, but after the international break, it’s always not an easy place to come. But there’s a long, long way to go,” the manager said.
He added, “Gigio [Donnarumma] was extraordinary, we missed chances, we were better in the second half, we conceded a goal, and after switching both sides [wide players], at the end we could not take a result.”