Manchester City’s push to reclaim the Premier League summit faltered on Saturday night as they fell 2-1 to Newcastle United at St James’ Park, handing the hosts their first league win over City since January 2019.
The contest, played at a frantic tempo, remained goalless for over an hour despite repeated openings for both sides. The breakthrough came in the 70th minute when Harvey Barnes, slipped through by Bruno Guimarães, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a crisp finish through a crowded penalty area.
City struck back swiftly. Ruben Dias restored parity in the 68th minute with a clean strike of his own, only for Newcastle to reclaim the advantage two minutes later. Nick Woltemade’s header reached Guimarães at the far post; his effort clipped the underside of the bar before falling for Barnes, who finished from close range to complete his brace.
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The champions could not find a second response, leaving them third on the table with 22 points from 12 matches. Newcastle, now on 15 points, climbed to 14th after securing their fourth win of the campaign.
Elsewhere, Liverpool slumped to 11th following a 0-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White condemned the defending champions to their sixth loss of the season.
Chelsea, meanwhile, moved into second place with a 2-0 victory over Burnley, courtesy of strikes from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández, bringing them within touching distance of leaders Arsenal.
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