Keegan fury as City lose thriller

MANCHESTER CITY boss Kevin Keegan was furious with referee Steve Dunn after again finding himself on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller against his old club Newcastle.

Keegan was scathing in his assessment of the official’s performance after seeing Craig Bellamy snatch victory a minute from full-time after the visitors had fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to come within seconds of taking a point.

“It was astonishing if you look at 4-3 and get carried away with it, but the most astonishing thing was that the referee was not strong enough and made too many mistakes, and I’ve been in and told him that,” Keegan said.

“He got too many decisions wrong. They weren’t major, major decisions, but they had a major impact on the game. I would like him to look at it and analyse it. You’ve got to remember how they got in front 2-0. One was a free-kick that wasn’t a free-kick, and the penalty when you see it, you might dispute it, though you wouldn’t argue as an away team playing here if they get a penalty like that.

“They’ve got 2-0 up by default, almost. No disrespect to them, they looked like they’d had a game in midweek, which they had, and while we weren’t any great shakes first half, we showed a determination and a character second half that should have got us something out of this game.

“We got nothing and the players are livid with the referee. I’m going to be their voice on this and I’ll be the one who gets fined, but he had one today, a major one.

“I’m not taking any credit away from Newcastle. I was five years here and I loved my five years here, and I hope under Graeme they go on and achieve what we failed to achieve, I’ve not got any problems with that.

“It’s ironic you’ve got Graeme Souness, who’s probably one of the most volatile managers saying ‘I know how you feel, but don’t get in trouble’.

“If those decisions were going like they went for me, I think he’d have long since have been in his car and going home.”

The home side looked to be coasting after Laurent Robert’s 49th-minute free-kick and an Alan Shearer penalty seven minutes later put them 2-0 up, but Shaun Wright-Phillips’ 64th-minute strike sparked a rush of three goals in five minutes, substitute Robbie Fowler levelling from the spot before Robbie Elliott headed the Magpies back in front.

Wright-Phillips’ second 13 minutes from time looked to have snatched a point for the visitors, but Bellamy’s intervention brought a satisfactory end to a difficult week for him and left his manager with a smile on his face.

“I had to remind them when I walked into the dressing room, I had to say, ‘look, maybe some of you have not noticed, but I’ve had open-heart surgery, there’s no way I can have this every week’,” Souness said.

“This is a mad business we’re in. Craig makes the headlines last week and then he’s made the headlines this week for the right reasons. He’s won us the game with that goal.

“Listen, him and I, I’m sure we’ll have our moments in the future. There’s one thing that’s not in doubt, Craig Bellamy is a man who wants to win at everything he does, and if that’s arguments with the manager, sometimes he’s going to have to accept that he won’t win.

“But certainly, you want to work with people who will not lie down, and he’s someone who wants to win in everything he does.”

NEWCASTLE: Given, Carr (Hughes 59), Elliott, O’Brien, Bernard, Jenas, Butt, Bowyer, Robert (Milner 71), Shearer, Bellamy (Ameobi 90)

MAN CITY: James, Mills, Distin, Dunne, Thatcher, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Bosvelt, McManaman, Sibierski, Macken (Flood 58), Anelka (Fowler 45).

Referee: S Dunn (Gloucestershire).