Newcastle 1 Liverpool 2
Eddie Howe led his Newcastle side into a crunch match against Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp’s side being the only team to do the double over his Magpies’ outfit last season. As they look to book a top four spot for a second season in a row, games like this now take a completely new meaning.
The Reds were unbeaten this season and a sold-out St James’ Park was hoping to see their team get revenge on the side who proved to be a thorn in their side last season, having added Sandro Tonali to their midfield engine during the summer.
Anthony Gordon shoved Trent Alexander-Arnold into the dugout early on in the game and as the Liverpool defender threw the ball back into play, the referee immediately produced a yellow card for the full back for dissent.
As Newcastle broke down an early attack from the visitors, Gordon ran clear, taking the ball around Alexander-Arnold who seemed to block him off in the process. The home faithful were demanding a second yellow card be shown to the Liverpool player.
Credit: @NUFC
The referee seemed to show some leniency due to how early in the game it was, much to the displeasure of the Newcastle players and manager. We are only three games into the season and we have already given up on second guessing the officials, only trained psychiatrists are probably in a place to do so.
Szoboszlai found Diaz out on the left flank and the tricky Columbian ran past the whole Newcastle defence before getting a shot away, which forced Nick Pope into the first save of the game. Unlike last season, the keeper was definitely in his box when he handled this one.
Salah then played a pass back to Alexander-Arnold, who completely missed the ball, and Gordon ran onto it to slot his shot under Alisson to make it 1-0 to The Magpies with the ground erupting as Eddie Howe’s side made the perfect start.
The Liverpool right back was having an absolute nightmare and looked more like a competition winner than an accomplished international as he made the afternoon in the North East now seem a much tougher proposition for his team.
Gordon then picked the ball up in the centre of the park and threaded it through to Isak who was brought down by the Liverpool captain. VAR checked for an offside and when it was decided he was on, the referee showed van Dijk a red card for the foul.
The Magpies were growing in confidence and as Almiron controlled the ball on his chest his volley seemed destined for the goal until Alisson made one of the saves of the season, to first palm it onto the crossbar before clawing the ball behind for a corner as it came down. Insane goalkeeping.
Credit: @LFC
Rules came into force this season that only the manager could be in the technical area during the game but Jason Tindall didn’t seem to get the memo. Much like Howard Webb, we are seeing way too much of this guy and no one asked for it.
At one stage when Jurgen Klopp was remonstrating to the fourth official, Tindall put his finger to his lips, telling Klopp to be quiet. Assistant managers should be neither be seen nor heard during the game, something Tindall could do with considering more. Every week he tries to get his five minutes of fame.
Eddie Howe’s side had never lost after going ahead at St James’ Park and they were dominating the visitors in the early stages of the second half. Almiron was causing problems and as he cut inside onto his left foot, his curling shot thundered back off the post.
The Magpies broke once again and had a four on three situation but Harvey Barnes held onto the ball for too long and when his attempt to get the ball to Wilson was blocked, the ball was easily gathered by Liverpool’s Brazilian keeper. With only fifteen minutes left, Newcastle just could not kill the game off against Jurgen Klopp’s ten men.
Darwin Nunez had come on as a substitute and when Diogo Jota played him in, the Uruguayan ran into the box and buried the ball in the bottom corner from a tight angle. Everywhere but the away end fell completely silent.
Newcastle attacked once again, trying to restore their lead. Trippier found Longstaff at the near post and the midfielder tried to backheel it passed Alisson. Now, Sean Longstaff is not really known for his goalscoring abilities, trying such an elaborate effort seemed ballsy to say the least. It was like seeing your kid going for a first swimming lesson and trying a back summersault off the top diving board.
Alisson knocked his kick long which Schar headed to Guimaraes, the Brazilian's pass hit Harvey Elliott and went straight to Salah. The Egyptian fed it into the path of Nunez perfectly, not even needing to control it, and the striker hit his shot first time into the far corner to give Liverpool the lead deep into stoppage time.
In a game they ought to have lost, Liverpool stunned the St James’ Park crowd, Newcastle players and coaching staff. Jurgen Klopp looked towards Jason Tindall and held his finger against lips. Ah the things you cannot outrun in life……death, taxes and karma!! The Reds had, once again, put Newcastle back in their box and Eddie Howe looked stunned.
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