Getting a result and deserving a result are two very different matters, but there does appear to be an air of good fortune around Newcastle United’s win over Man City this weekend.
On the one hand, you have to hand it to Newcastle, with Eddie Howe playing the perfect game plan to get the better of City.
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Two goals from Harvey Barnes sealed the win, but it was the Magpies’ impressive defensive display to restrict Erling Haaland that really paid dividends.
Still, it was a game packed with contentious decisions and talking points, and former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg suggests Newcastle may well have been a little bit lucky when it comes to the decisions made.
Man City have a right to be frustrated after Newcastle game
Discussing the game in the latest episode of the Beyond the Back Four podcast, Clattenburg explained why he felt that Pep Guardiola has a right to feel aggrieved.
First of all, he thinks City should have had a penalty for Fabian Schar’s challenge on Phil Foden.
Clattenburg said: “The big frustration for City fans is how Schar’s challenge was not deemed a foul by VAR. The only decision that needed to be checked was if ball was still in play – if it’s out of play, it’s not a penalty but the ball was in play so it’s irrelevant if Foden’s got his shot off or not.
“Schar took risk, came sliding in to try to block ball and that was his only intention – as he slides in, he catches Foden so City should’ve been given the penalty and Schar a yellow card.”
He also believes Newcastle’s goal could and should have been disallowed, despite technology adjudging Bruno Guimaraes to be onside by the smallest fraction. That said, Clattenburg did admit City had no right to appeal about a foul on Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Clattenburg added: “Technology decided the offside call and that is calibrated before the game to the smallest millimetre. Under previous regulations, this might’ve been deemed offside by a human doing it but technology decided that Bruno was onside.
“The discussion about where Harvey Barnes fouled Donnarumma just before the winner, too – I don’t think he did, Donnarumma should’ve been stronger.”
This comes after Micah Richards claimed Man City were robbed of a penalty for handball against Malick Thiaw. There’s every chance City could have had a couple of penalties and a Newcastle goal chalked off, but it wasn’t to be on the day.
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This was the lucky break Newcastle United needed
While performances haven’t been great for Newcastle prior to this game, fans would probably agree that the Magpies have had their fair share of bad luck this season, too.
Whether it be the whole Alexander Isak transfer saga or the slew of injury issues at Newcastle, Eddie Howe and co. were certainly due a slice of good fortune.
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With a tough run of games coming up for Newcastle, they’ll be hoping this good luck lasts a little longer.
Despite the win, Newcastle are still down in 14th place in the Premier League table, but they’re a lot closer to breaching the top half of the division now.
Following up the win against City with a win in the Champions League against Marseille would now be the perfect way to keep this momentum going.
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