Sheff Utd 0-2 Newcastle highlights & report: VAR strikes again with Jonjo Shelvey playing to the whistle despite offside flag
A superb Newcastle defensive performance and a bizarre moment of VAR saw Sheffield United's unbeaten run come to an end with a 2-0 defeat at Bramall Lane.
The Blades had gone seven Premier League games without defeat until Steve Bruce's side pulled off a textbook away performance - having little by the way of possession but limiting chances and taking their few opportunities.
Allan Saint-Maximin used his head to nod the visitors in front before Jonjo Shelvey kept his head to play on despite the linesman flagging him offside to finish past Dean Henderson to clinch victory.
Sheffield United's players cleary stopped when the flag went up for what was an incorrect offside decision, and the VAR replay spotted as much and then awarded the goal.
Strange VAR moment aside, it was a deserved victory for the Magpies - a third win in five - and one that puts them level with Chris Wilder's side in the table.
Sheffield United started the game well and in fact played well throughout with plenty of pace and endeavour, with Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka pulling off a number of saves.
Tt was Newcastle who opened the scoring though with their first real attack 15 minutes in - Javier Manquillo crossing for Saint-Maximin to nod in at the far post from eight yards out.
The Blades threatened again either side of the half-hour mark as Billy Sharp, stretching to get on the end of Stevens' through ball, could only poke his attempt into the side-netting, before John Egan sent a powerful header straight at Dubravka.
No question of the main talking point though, as the flag was raised when Paul Dummett's long ball forward was flicked on by Andy Carroll and Shelvey found himself clean through on goal after making a run from deep.
The Blades defenders totally stopped playing, believing the Newcastle midfielder to be offside, while goalkeeper Dean Henderson made no attempt to save the ball as Shelvey fired into the back of the net, knowing the goal would be checked.
It was a very tight decision but Carroll was inches onside and the goal stood to give the Magpies a vital victory on Thursday night.
Sheffield United 0-2 Newcastle United Opta stats
- Newcastle have won three of their last five Premier League games (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 13 combined before this (W3 D4 L6).
- Sheffield United have lost each of their last four league meetings with Newcastle, their longest ever such losing run against them.
- Only Southampton (five) have lost more Premier League games on home soil this season than Sheffield United at Bramall Lane (four).
- Allan Saint-Maximin's goal (14:58) was the earliest Sheffield United have conceded in a league game at Bramall Lane since March 2017, when Ricky Holmes scored in the third minute for Charlton.
- Newcastle scored with their first two shots on target of this game, with Jonjo Shelvey's 70th minute goal their first attempt of any kind since Allan Saint-Maximin opened the scoring in the 15th minute.
- Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin scored his first Premier League goal in his 11th appearance in the competition and with what was his 17th shot across those 11 games - he had failed to score with his last 46 shots for Nice and Newcastle in Ligue 1 and the Premier League respectively before tonight.
- Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has scored in back-to-back Premier League games for the very first time in his career, and in back-to-back league games overall for the first time since November 2011 for Blackpool.
- Andy Carroll started his first Premier League game for Newcastle in eight years and 342 days - the second longest run between starts for the club in the competition after Pavel Srnicek (nine years, 62 days), and the seventh longest gap between starts by any player at a single club in the competition’s history.
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