Liverpool became the first visiting side to win a Premier League (PL) game at St James’ Park this season, as they beat 10-man Newcastle United 2-0.
Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off and will consequently miss the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United next week through suspension.
Following former player Christian Atsu’s passing and with this game falling on what would have been Sir Bobby Robson’s 90th birthday, it was an emotionally charged afternoon for Newcastle.
However, despite a promising start, the Magpies went behind just 10 minutes in as Darwin Núñez touched down Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exquisite pass and emphatically finished.
The Reds hadn’t lost any of the Uruguayan’s previous six goalscoring games and doubled their lead just seven minutes later, with Cody Gakpo latching onto Mohamed Salah’s superb pass to score his second in as many games.
Things soon got worse for the Magpies, as Nick Pope made a complete mess of Alisson’s long pass with Salah lurking and handled it outside of his box, resulting in a straight red card, ruling him out of the trip to Wembley.
After Elliot Anderson was sacrificed 24 minutes into his first PL start, substitute goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka immediately dealt with a header from Gakpo.
Newcastle responded to the setbacks that had stacked up, but couldn’t find a route back into the game before HT, with Allan Saint-Maximin’s strike being tipped onto the crossbar and Dan Burn’s header also crashing against the woodwork.
Saint-Maximin continued to provide inspiration as the second half started and found Alexander Isak in the box, although the striker couldn’t find the target with his shot on the turn.
Núñez provided a reminder of Liverpool’s threat in behind, cutting in and forcing Dúbravka into a strong save, although the forward then departed holding his shoulder, while Eddie Howe later took Joelinton off when it appeared there could be a problem for the Brazilian.
Alisson made his third big save of the game late on, denying Callum Wilson to ensure Liverpool secured back-to-back victories and brought Newcastle’s 17-game PL unbeaten run to an end.
While the Magpies can look forward to the Carabao Cup final, they will also be looking over their shoulder in the league with Liverpool six points behind them having played a game less in the race for the top-four.
