City rides referee storm to go top
Print Edition
Manchester City went top of the Premier League after securing a controversial 2-0 win at Newcastle United yesterday with an early Edin Dzeko goal and a stoppage time effort from Alvaro Negredo.
Newcastle was incensed that a stunning volley from Cheick Tiote was disallowed by referee Mike Jones after 34 minutes when the hosts trailed 0-1.
Tiote smashed the ball home with a swerving 20-meter left-foot shot, but as the Newcastle players were celebrating, the referee consulted with his linesman and disallowed the goal.
They decided that Yoan Gouffran, who was standing in an offside position three yards from goal, was interfering with play and blocking goalkeeper Joe Hart’s line of vision.
However, replays showed that neither player appeared to be interfering with play or blocking the view of City keeper, leaving Newcastle boss Alan Pardew seething on the sidelines.
Dzeko swept City into the lead after eight minutes, timing his run perfectly to meet a cross from Aleksandr Kolarov to plant the ball past Tim Krul.
City’s second came in the final seconds when Negredo beat the offside trap and scored at the second attempt after his first effort was blocked by Krul for City’s 94th goal of the season in all competitions.
City moved on to 47 points from 21 league matches, one ahead of Chelsea. Arsenal, which started the weekend top, will go back to the summit if it wins at Aston Villa today.
The one blot for City was seeing Frenchman Samir Nasri carried off on a stretcher in the later stages with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after a clattering from defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa who was booked for the challenge.
On Saturday, Chelsea beat Hull 2-0 while Manchester United ended a sorry run of three straight defeats to lift the gloom surrounding the reigning champion.
Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea.
United was on the brink of a crisis, by its lofty standards, after losing three games in six days to kick off 2014, but a 2-0 win over Swansea will boost the confidence among David Moyes’ squad and keeps his seventh-place team in touch with the top four.
Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck scored in a 13-minute span at the start of the second half for United. Everton beat Norwich 2-0 and Tottenham topped Crystal Palace 2-0.
Sunderland beat Fulham 4-1 with a hat-trick by winger Adam Johnson. West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at Cardiff, despite playing the final stages with 10 men following James Tomkins’ sending-off.
England midfielder Adam Lallana scored Southampton’s winner in a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
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