4 December 2024
Newcastle 3 Liverpool 3
Newcastle have struggled to find form consistently this season so facing table-topping Liverpool seemed the best way to get themselves out of this rut. Nobody looks forward to a visit to St James’ Park and Arne Slot knew this would be a stern test of his side’s title credentials. 50,000 Geordie fans would be looking to make it as intimidating as possible.
The visitors started poorly and continued to give the ball away. Newcastle capitalised on this and put the pressure on. Gordon was making a nuisance of himself down the left and he played the ball inside to Tonali. Some neat footwork saw him skip past two players, before trying to bend a shot into the bottom corner of the goal. Kelleher got down well to tip it around the post.
Liverpool went down the other end and asked some questions of Eddie Howe’s side. Salah shifted the ball inside, looking to shoot but it was well blocked. The ball broke to Mac Allister on the edge of the box and he struck his volley well as it fizzed towards the bottom corner. Pope got down well to save, at the expense of a corner.
Moments later, as Newcastle tried to clear their lines from a corner, Mac Allister picked the ball up once again. He cut inside onto his left foot before getting a shot away, this time Pope was rooted to the spot. The Argentine could not believe his bad luck when he saw his effort clip the outside of the post and go wide of the target.
Isak then did well to pick a pass into the path of Murphy. He had space and time to shoot but his effort clipped the post and went wide. At this stage, both sides felt they should have scored by now. Then Newcastle’s Swedish striker fired a venomous shot from outside the box and into the top corner of the goal. A sublime finish that caused St James’ Park to erupt.
The Magpies almost doubled their lead when Gomez mishit a back-pass to his keeper. Gordon was clean through one-on-one with the Liverpool keeper. He spread himself well and managed to get a block on the shot and grab it at the second time of asking. You wondered whether they would come to regret that miss later on in the game.
After the interval, whatever Slot said to his team in the interval, seemed to work. Salah picked up the ball out wide and spotted a cross into the path of Jones, making a lung-bursting run to the near post. He smashed his first-time shot into the top corner with Pope unable to even react before the ball was in the back of the net. And just like that, Liverpool were level.
Howe’s side may have felt hard done by as the visitors had barely been in this game. But that is the sign of a good team, even when playing badly they can find a way to get back into the game. Gakpo lifted a cross into the box and the attempted clearance saw the ball drop at his feet again. He struck the ball towards goal but dragged it narrowly wide of the target.
Suddenly Slot’s side were in the ascendency. Salah put another teasing ball into the box which had Pope beaten. It dropped to Gakpo at the back post, who looked to square it for Nunez to tap in at the back post. The Uruguayan could not get there in time and you were left wondering why the Dutch forward had not opted to just score himself.
Isak then played a pass into Gordon in the box. He sidestepped the challenge and slotted the ball under Kelleher and into the back of the net. The Magpies had once again taken the lead at St James’ Park. At this point it was a cauldron of noise, Newcastle fans believing they could upset the odds once again in this game.
The Reds piled forward and Alexander-Arnold managed to pick out Salah with a cross. The Egyptian swept home from the near post to draw Liverpool level. They grabbed the ball from the back of the net with all the passion of a team who wanted to go on and win this game now. Suddenly it was The Magpies on the back foot looking to hold onto something from this match.
Salah skipped past Hall and unleashed a shot from nothing. Pope did not even see it before it was rattling his crossbar and coming back into play. It was a sublime piece of skill from the Liverpool winger and it had deserved a goal. Sadly it was just inches from achieving that feat. The visitors were looking the more likely to take all three points at this stage.
Alexander-Arnold was at it again as he crossed to Salah. He had his back to goal, spun onto his left foot and struck a shot into the far corner. It was a brilliant finish from the ‘Egyptian King’, who had put Liverpool in pole-position to win this tricky fixture that they had twice fallen behind in. The Reds just needed to hold on for ten minutes or so now.
Then came the moment the home fans had dreamt of. As a free kick is swung into the box, inexplicably, Kelleher let the ball go over his head. Schar slid in on the byline and somehow put the ball into the back of the net from an impossible angle. You would be amazed if a striker scored from there, let alone a centre-back.
Both sides will feel that they could have won this game but the spoils were shared. Kelleher won’t want to see the Newcastle equaliser again, that is for sure. Arne Slot’s side will see their lead at the top shorten if other results did not go their way. This may prove to be a wake-up call for the league leaders, they need to get back to what they are good at, attacking teams to death.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.