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William Osula came off the bench to score the winning goal late on as 10-a-side Newcastle United defeated Manchester United 2-1 in the Premier League, ending Michael Carrick’s unbeaten run as caretaker manager.
On Wednesday, as Carrick lost for the first time in seven games, Newcastle played the second half with one player down and stunned third-placed United with a stunning solo goal just before full-time.
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Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka’s goal gave Arsenal a valuable 1-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion and put them in control of the title race, while Manchester City were forced to draw 2-2 at home with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.
Man United’s defeat left the visitors nine points behind second-placed City, but they remain level with Aston Villa on 51 points.
The match at Newcastle began in chaos in the 10 minutes of first-half stoppage time, with 45+1 minutes on the clock when Jacob Ramsey was sent off for a second yellow card after the referee judged him to have dived.
Anthony Gordon won a penalty five minutes later after a collision with United captain Bruno Fernandes, giving Newcastle a 1-0 lead with his ninth successful spot-kick from nine attempts so far this season.
The half-time whistle was still blown when Fernandes found Casemiro from a set-piece and headed home to level the score at 45+9.
In the second half, there were times when it was hard to tell who was which with 10 players.
The third-placed side, who arrived on Tyneside with the talent Newcastle would have liked to have signed last year – Brian Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesco – looked lackluster.
Or Newcastle, who had gone three games without a win in the home league, made a breakthrough in the face of adversity.
“I’m not happy with the way the game went tonight,” said Carrick, who has been a Newcastle fan since he was a boy.
“I don’t think it’s 10 guys’ fault. We just didn’t play well enough tonight. There’s no excuse for that.
“They deserved to win tonight… It hurts tonight because you hate to lose a game, but we’ll be better next game.”
Mikel Arteta’s side went into their task on the south coast in first place with City looking over their shoulder, but they had a big advantage and ended the night with their first title since 2004 on the horizon.
Arsenal achieved their 14th clean sheet in the Premier League this season with a lackadaisical display that Saka described as “ugly”, with Saka’s deflected shot in the ninth minute paying off.
Wasteful City twice took the lead with goals from Antoine Semenyo and Rodri, but on both occasions Forest fought back, first with a deft backheel from Morgan Gibbs-White and then with a low drive from Elliott Anderson in the 76th minute.
City attacked Forest’s area in the closing stages and almost scored with the final kick of the match, but Sabinho’s shot was cleared on the line by Murillo.
Arsenal are firmly in the lead again with 67 points from 30 games and City have 60 points from 29 games, but they still have to face City on April 19th.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “It’s a really difficult place to come and win. Every team that comes here is struggling, but we did what we had to do to win.”
“We are coming back from a very difficult game with a very intense game. The players fought hard in every game despite the difficulties and it is amazing to come here without training and get a result.”
City were supposed to celebrate a fifth successive league win after overwhelming Forest, but they looked dejected at the final whistle after missing out on two points, but manager Josep Guardiola said they still had a long way to go.
Manager Guardiola said of the gap with Arsenal: “There are still many games left, but we have one game less.” “We’re playing against Newcastle[in the FA Cup]but I’m always thinking about what’s next.
“If you analyze it, it was a good performance overall and there were a lot of positives. Of course there are things we can improve on, but overall it was pretty good.”
United remained in third place with 51 points, while Aston Villa also moved into fourth place with 51 points after a 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, in which Joao Pedro scored a hat-trick. Chelsea moved up to fifth place with 48 points, ahead of Liverpool.
