Liverpool's Luis Suarez, left, scores past Stoke's Jack Butland during their English Premier League soccer match at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, England, Sunday Jan 12, 2014. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
January 12, 2014 - 10:55 AM
LONDON - Manchester City moved provisionally top of the Premier League with a controversial 2-0 victory at Newcastle while Liverpool stayed in contention with a 5-3 win at Stoke as both teams benefited Sunday from controversial refereeing decisions.
Goals from Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo secured City's 10th consecutive win over the Magpies as Manuel Pellegrini's well-oiled scoring machine extended its unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 games.
But the result did not reflect the intensity of a game dominated by referee Mike Jones' decision to cancel Cheikh Tiote's apparent equalizer, ruling that Yoan Gouffran interfered with play in an offside position.
Negredo secured City's win in added time while league top scorer Luis Suarez scored twice for Liverpool and Steven Gerrard converted a disputed penalty.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014