Newcastle United secured a 2-1 win over Manchester City at St James' Park on Saturday evening, as Pep Guardiola seemingly fumed at a controversial VAR decision - but Alan Shearer believes he has bigger problems to focus on
Pep Guardiola speaks with Bruno Guimarares
Pep Guardiola looked to be fuming in the aftermath of Manchester City's loss to Newcastle United
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Alan Shearer has claimed that Pep Guardiola should stop worrying about 'refereeing decisions and bad luck' and concentrate on his team's issues at present.
Newcastle United secured a convincing 2-1 win over Manchester City at St James' Park on Saturday evening, in a game that wasn't without its fair share of drama. Harvey Barnes opened the scoring for the Magpies 64 minutes into the match, before Ruben Diaz levelled matters four minutes later.
Barnes then gave United the lead once more in the 70th minute, but his second strike came in seemingly controversial fashion. Bruno Guimaraes appeared to be in an offside position when his headed effort bounced off the bar before landing at the feet of Barnes, who fired it into the roof of Gianluigi Donnarumma's net.
However, a VAR review highlighted how Dias' shoulder was playing the Brazilian skipper onside during the motion, allowing the goal to stand. Stormy scenes then ensued after the full-time whistle, as Guardiola appeared to make a beeline for Guimaraes before the two were spotted sharing an animated conversation.
The incident also saw Joelinton marched away by Newcastle performance director James Bunce, as tensions boiled over. Elsewhere, Jason Tindall looked to have clashed in a war with words with Donnarumma. In his post match interview, a frustrated Guardiola said of the match: "It is what it is.
"An entertaining game, they had chances, we had chances and in the end there are margins, and decisions and things. Good actions for them, and yeah, we lost the game."
When probed on what he meant by 'decisions' and asked about whether coaching staff were asking the fourth official about a potential foul on Donnarumma during Barnes' second goal, the Spaniard added: "Well, it didn't happen against Bournemouth, and didn't happen again neither."
Harvey Barnes celebrates a goal
Harvey Barnes bagged a brace against City(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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However, Shearer believes that Guardiola should put his focus in addressing his team's problems in defence, as opposed to speaking about decisions made by officials and VAR. Speaking in reaction to the match, the Newcastle United legend said: "For me, nothing wrong with the goal Newcastle scored.
"But for me, the concern would be how many chances they're giving up, not on the refereeing decisions and bad luck. It was how many chances Newcastle created today because if they'd have had their finishing boots on...
"As I said, they should have scored six or seven. They missed four absolute sitters, and the way they carved City open would be the bigger concern for me."
Alan Shearer holds a microphone
Alan Shearer didn't mince his words(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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Despite having only conceded 10 goals this season thus far, City looked incredibly open during their clash with the Magpies from the outset and throughout. Barnes and Nick Woltemade both had a number of chances in the opening half, which easily could have found the back of the net if it wasn't for Donnarumma's heroics.
It was more of the same from the Magpies in the second period, albeit, with Barnes proving far more clinical in front of goal to allow the hosts to take all three points from the fixture. As a result of the hard-earned win, United now sit 14th in the Premier League standings with four wins, three draws and five losses to show for their efforts in their opening 12 outings of the season.
Next up for Eddie Howe is a testing Champions League trip to Marseille on Tuesday, before Newcastle return to league action on Saturday, November 29 to face Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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