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| Newcastle United vs. Manchester City |
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Full Time
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H/T: 0:0 | F/T: 4:3
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Newcastle United 4-3 CITY
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| Newcastle and Manchester City served up a seven-goal thriller as Craig Bellamy earned the Magpies a 4-3 win over Kevin Keegan's men. |
The 25-year-old Welshman struck a minute from time to cap a remarkable second half which saw the game explode into life and make anything seem possible.
Graeme Souness' men were in complete control after a Laurent Robert free-kick and an Alan Shearer penalty had given them a 2-0 lead with 56 minutes gone, and few among a stadium record crowd of 52,316 at St James' Park could have predicted what followed.
Shaun Wright-Phillips and substitute Robbie Fowler, with a penalty, dragged City right back into it, only for Robbie Elliott to restore the home side's advantage with a third goal in five minutes with 69 minutes gone.
Wright-Phillips looked to have snatched a point with 13 minutes remaining when he fired home from close range, but in a breathless reminder of the Magpies' two classic 4-3 encounters with Liverpool during the 1990s, Bellamy put his training ground spat with Souness firmly behind him to bank three points and extend his side's unbeaten run to nine games.
Newcastle returned from their midweek trip to Greece knowing that they would have to perform better than they did against Panionios if they were to claim another three Barclays Premiership points, and there was no lack of enterprise as they set about the task of dismantling Keegan's side.
They dominated the opening half for all but a few minutes, and although clear-cut chances were few and far between, they made more than enough to have forced their way in front.
With Nicky Butt anchoring the midfield quartet, Jermaine Jenas, Lee Bowyer and Robert, who flitted between the sublime and the ridiculous during the first 45 minutes, were able to take the game to visitors and did so to good effect at times.
They might have taken the lead with just eight minutes gone when Bellamy looped a header over City keeper David James, but agonisingly also just over the crossbar, and it took a fine interception from former Magpie Sylvain Distin to deny Alan Shearer a strike at goal after Jenas had out-stripped Danny Mills down the left.
However, it was not until the closing moments of the half that the home side began to threaten on a sustained basis.
James plucked Bowyer's 38th-minute shot out of the air, but he needed the help of midfielder Paul Bosvelt seconds later when he, perhaps inadvertently, blocked the former Leeds midfielder's side-footed effort as it sped towards the net after Robert has unlocked the City rearguard.
The visitors enjoyed fleeting periods of possession throughout the half, but created only two real openings, Jonathan Macken miskicking in front of goal on 14 minutes and Nicolas Anelka shooting straight at Shay Given when handed his only real sight of goal four minutes before half-time.
Anelka's afternoon came to a premature end as a result of a groin strain at the break when he was replaced by Fowler, and City survived a real scare within two minutes.
Stephen Carr and Jenas played an inch-perfect one-two down the Newcastle right to allow the full-back to deliver an inviting cross, but although Shearer climbed high above Mills, he could not keep his header down.
However, the home side took the lead in spectacular style with 49 minutes gone after Bosvelt tripped Butt as he headed towards the penalty area.
Robert, whose commitment to the cause has been repeatedly questioned during his time on Tyneside, stepped up to curl on unstoppable free-kick beyond the leaden-footed James to open the scoring.
The winger thrust his badge towards the stands in confirmation of his loyalty, and the home supporters were celebrating again within eight minutes.
Full-back Carr evaded Steve McManaman's challenge to race in on James and go to ground after rounding the keeper.
Just how much contact there was is a topic for debate, but referee Steve Dunn had no doubt and Shearer, as he had done three minutes from time in Athens, smashed the penalty home to make it 2-0.
But just as it looked as though the points were safe, the visitors hit back in devastating style, Wright-Phillips smashing past Given on 64 minutes and then Fowler converting a 67th-minute penalty after being tripped by Butt.
However, they had been on level terms for barely two minutes when Elliott got his head to a Robert free-kick and the ball spun off the post and over the line.
Wright-Phillips might have collected his second of the game in a thrilling passage of play when he escaped again down the right and rounded Given, but his shot from a tight angle flew high over.
But he made no mistake 13 minutes from time when Jenas' error after Richard Dunne had flicked on Sylvain Distin's long throw dropped on to his right foot and he blasted home the equaliser.
The youngster might have snatched it four minutes from time, but shot into the side-netting, and substitute Willo Flood went even closer, but it was left to Bellamy to provide the coup de grace when he drove home from Olivier Bernard's pull-back with a minute remaining.
Keegan furious at 'weak' referee
Manchester City boss Kevin Keegan was furious with referee Steve Dunn after again finding himself on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller against his old club Newcastle.
'It was astonishing if you look at 4-3 and get carried away with it, but the most astonishing thing was that the referee here today was not strong enough and made too many mistakes, and I've been in and told him that,' Keegan said.
'He got too many decisions wrong. They weren't major, major decisions, but they had a major impact on the game. I would like him to look at it and analyse it.
'You've got to remember how they got in front to 2-0. One was a free-kick that to me wasn't a free-kick, and the penalty when you see it, you might dispute it, although you wouldn't argue as an away team playing here if they get a penalty like that.
'They've got 2-0 up by default, almost. No disrespect to them, they looked like they'd had a game in midweek, which they had, and whilst we weren't any great shakes first half, we showed a determination and a character second half that should have got us something out of this game.
'We got nothing and the players are livid with the referee. I'm going to be their voice on this and I'll be the one who gets fined, but he had one today, a major one.
'Let's leave it at that. That's as nice as I want to be with him. Everyone has a bad day.
'I'm not taking any credit away from Newcastle. I was five years here and I loved my five years here, and I hope under Graeme they go on and achieve what we failed to achieve, I've not got any problems with that.
'It's ironic that you've got Graeme Souness, who's probably one of the most volatile managers saying 'I know how you feel, but don't get in trouble'.
'If those decisions were going like they went for me, I think he'd have long since have been in his car and going home.'
'I had to remind them when I walked into the dressing room, I had to say, 'Look, maybe some of you have not noticed, but I've had open-heart surgery, there's no way I can have this every week',' Souness said.
'This is a mad business we're in. Craig makes the headlines last week and then he's made the headlines this week for the right reasons. He's won us the game with that goal. You can see how our crowd react to him.
'Listen, him and I, I'm sure we'll have our moments in the future. There's one thing that's not in doubt, Craig Bellamy is a man who wants to win at everything he does, and if that's arguments with the manager, sometimes he's going to have to accept that he won't win.
'But certainly, you want to work with people who will not lie down, and he's someone who wants to win in everything he does.'
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