EPL: Manchester City go top after controversial win at Newcastle

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.

Newcastle were incensed that a stunning volley from Cheick Tiote was disallowed by referee Mike Jones after 34 minutes when the hosts trailed 1-0.

Tiote smashed the ball home with a swerving 20-metre left-foot shot, but, as the Newcastle players were celebrating, the referee consulted with his linesman and disallowed the goal.

They decided that Yoan Gouffran, who was standing in an offside position three yards from goal, was interfering with play and blocking goalkeeper Joe Hart's line of vision.

Dzeko swept City into the lead after eight minutes, timing his run perfectly to meet a cross from Aleksandr Kolarov to plant the ball past Tim Krul.

Their second came in the final seconds when Negredo beat the offside trap and scored at the second attempt after his first effort was blocked by Krul for City's 94th goal of the season in all competitions.

City moved on to 47 points from 21 league matches, one ahead of Chelsea. Arsenal, who started the weekend top, will go back to the summit if they win at Aston Villa on Monday.

The one blot for City was seeing Frenchman Samir Nasri carried off on a stretcher in the later stages with what appeared to be a serious knee knjury after a clattering from defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa who was booked for the challenge.

It was City's 10th successive win over Newcastle in all competitions and the third time they have beaten them this season after a 4-0 win at the Etihad on the opening day of the season and a 2-0 win at St James' Park in the Capital One (League) Cup in October.

The Magpies have now lost three successive league games and are eighth in the table with 33 points.

Rossi sorely missed as Fiorentina held

Meanwhile, Fiorentina sorely missed Serie A leading scorer Giuseppe Rossi as they were held to a goalless draw at Torino on Sunday.

Coach Vincenzo Montella fielded Juan Cuadrado, Joaquin and Josip Illicic in an improvised three-man forward line but, despite repeatedly getting into promising positions, they failed to carve out many clear chances.

Midfielder Borja Valero had Fiorentina's best efforts, twice missing narrowly from close range in the first half before being denied by a last-ditch block by Torino captain Kamil Glik in the second.

Italy striker Rossi, sidelined for nearly two years after suffering successive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage injuries to his right knee, has scored 14 league goals after making his comeback with Fiorentina following a move from Villarreal.

But further misfortune struck the American-born striker when he suffered another injury to the same knee in the 1-0 win over Livorno one week ago.

It was initially diagnosed as a second degree sprain to the medial collateral ligament, however Fiorentina said on Saturday that a further examination had revealed some damage to the ACL which had previously been operated on.

Fiorentina, fourth with 37 points from 19 games, are also without Germany striker Mario Gomez, who was signed from Bayern Munich in the close season and suffered a knee ligament injury in September. They are hoping Gomez will be fit again in the next few weeks.

Image: Manchester City's Edin Dzeko (right) celebrates his goal against Newcastle United with Samir Nasri (left), Aleksander Kolarov (second left) and Alvaro Negredo during their Premier League match at St James' Park.

Photo: REUTERS/Nigel Roddis