Tuesday, 14 January 2014 00:01
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Reuters: Manchester City went top of the Premier League after securing a controversial 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Sunday with an early Edin Dzeko goal and a stoppage-time effort from Alvaro Negredo.
Liverpool also won away with an astonishing 5-3 victory at Stoke City after the home side battled back from a two-goal deficit to level the match at 2-2 by halftime.
The results lifted City to the top of the Premier League on 47 points, one ahead of Chelsea and two clear of Arsenal, who will return to the summit if they win at Aston Villa on Monday.
Liverpool climbed above Everton and Tottenham Hotspur into fourth place on 42 points.
The outcome could have been very different at St James’ Park if a stunning 34th-minute volley from Newcastle’s Cheick Tiote had not been disallowed after a contentious decision by referee Mike Jones.
He ruled that Newcastle’s Yoan Gouffran was offside and had unsighted City keeper Joe Hart, a claim hotly disputed by Newcastle boss Alan Pardew.
One blot for City was a potentially serious knee injury suffered by France international Samir Nasri who was carried off on a stretcher late in the game.
An eight-goal thriller at Stoke ended with Liverpool winning with two goals from Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, the top scorer in the Premier League this season who took his tally to 22 goals.
An own goal from Ryan Shawcross, a penalty from Steven Gerrard on his 650th Liverpool appearance and a fine individual goal from substitute Daniel Sturridge on his return from injury completed Liverpool’s scoring.
Stoke’s goals came from former Liverpool duo Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam, and Jon Walters.
