The scoreline of 3-1 suggests an easy victory for Liverpool against lowly and, despite their Saudi billions and new manager (Eddie Howe), seemingly relegation doomed Newcastle United.
However, this was another nervy and frustrating game for the Reds, following similarly anxious and close matches against Wolves and Aston Villa, both of which were won but only by the narrowest of margins.
Indeed, failure to win against a basement club at Anfield after main title contenders Manchester City had, the night before, battered Leeds 7-0 to open a four point gap against Liverpool would have dealt a mental blow to the Reds, especially since Chelsea, another championship challenger, have been dropping points of late, most recently at Stamford Bridge to struggling Everton, which the West London club only managed a 1-1 draw against.
Things got off to a bad start for Liverpool before kick off when it was confirmed that three of their players – Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones – had all tested positive for Covid and would now be isolating. Van Dijk and Fabinho would certainly have started against the Magpies. In for them came Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in midfield and Ibrahima Konate at centre back.
Liverpool suffered another shock when ex-Red Jonjo Shelvey, after seven minutes, latched onto a weak clearance from Thiago Alcantara, who actually had time and space to control the ball in the Reds area where he was defending and pick a pass, and took advantage of Jordan Henderson’s half-hearted effort to close him down to place a clever curling strike into the corner of Alisson Becker’s net, the Brazilian keeper perhaps at fault for not anticipating the trajectory of the ball and getting wrong-footed.
Even though the goal was conceded early, Liverpool’s response was rushed if not panicky and Reds fans could’ve been forgiven for thinking it was going to be one of those nights where things just don’t go for you.
Anxieties were eased, however, on 21 minutes when Diogo Jota slammed the ball home after his header was parried into his path by Magpies keeper Martin Dubravka, who perhaps should’ve done better with the initial effort.
Newcastle were aggrieved that the phase of play wasn’t stopped by referee Mike Dean, after Newcastle defenders had collided with each other trying to clear the initial cross, with Isaac Hayden ending up on the ground in the six yard area holding his head. There was no whistle and Liverpool couldn’t be blamed for playing on (and scoring) but Eddie Howe was furious that the attack wasn’t halted to allow treatment to his player.
It was a tricky situation. Hayden wasn’t badly hurt but the rule is that a head injury requires the immediate cessation of play. However, invariable application of that rule would mean that defenders could simply go down holding their heads to stop play and thwart an attack or the build up of pressure. Dean had to make a decision as to how seriously Hayden was hurt, whether there was an element of feigning his injury to get play stopped, and his conclusion to allow Liverpool’s attack to continue benefited the Reds.
Indeed, four minutes later, with Newcastle still reeling from the injustice, from their point of view, of the equaliser, a rancid back pass from Shelvey put Sadio Mané through one-on-one with Dubravka, whose save rebounded to Mo Salah who slammed the ball into the back of the net.
It should be added that between Liverpool’s first and second goals, Thiago was again guilty of sloppy play that allowed Alain Saint-Maximin through. His shot was well saved by Alisson down low, but it was concerning to see that these dangerous giveaways from Thiago, which blighted his early appearances with the Reds, haven’t been completely eradicated from his game.
While everyone expected Liverpool to add to the 2-1 scoreline and make the game safe, the team in fact created few chances. Newcastle grew in confidence and, from the 70th minute, an equaliser looked possible.
Roberto Firmino, returning from a six-week injury layoff, came on for Mo Salah – who looked disgruntled at being taken off – and his silky link up and layoff play reassured, and, indeed, it was his controlled pass to Trent Alexander Arnold on the edge of the Newcastle area after 87 minutes that allowed the Reds full-back to unleash a powerful, accurate, unstoppable shot into the top of the net and finally end Newcastle’s resistance and threat and put the game to bed.
Next up for Liverpool is a Sunday game away at Tottenham, who haven’t played their last two games because of a Covid outbreak at the North London club. It remains to be seen if the game can go ahead.
