Eddie Howe jumped up and down, the frustration that he felt inside turned him into a human pogo stick. We live in strange and challenging times but one things that never changes is Anfield’s ability to leave Newcastle managers feeling hard done by.
This was not in the realms of Kevin Keegan, slumped over the advertising hoardings after that 4-3 defeat in 1996, but Howe left Merseyside bemoaning a decision from referee Mike Dean that he felt proved costly.
‘I can’t understand how Mike has not stopped the game immediately,’ Howe groaned. ‘It was clear the game had to be stopped. I can’t believe it. That decision is the key bearing on the result and that really aggrieves me.’
Trent Alexander-Arnold sealed three points for Liverpool against Newcastle with a rocket into the top corner from long range
The Reds right back struck superbly from distance as the hosts cut Man City’s lead at the top of the league to one point
Eddie Howe saw his Newcastle side fall to another defeat despite a spirited performance and taking the lead at Anfield
Jonjo Shelvey’s sublime curling effort into the bottom-corner gave the visitors a surprise early lead at a shellshocked Anfield
Diogo Jota – despite a Newcastle player clutching his head in the box – equalised from close range after his header was saved
Mohamed Salah scored again, firing in from close range after Sadio Mane had latched onto Shelvey’s blind pass backwards
Newcastle’s manager lamented why Issac Hayden was left stricken on the edge of his own six-yard box, having collided with his team-mate Fabian Schar.
Liverpool, who were trailing one-nil in the 21st minute, kept playing and Diogo Jota equalised. Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall erupted.
It is a colourful narrative and questions can be asked of Dean but for Howe to intimate that Newcastle’s run without a win at Anfield continues to date back to April 1994 because of the match official is nonsense. Newcastle were diligent and organised but they were miles behind Liverpool.
True, Liverpool – who were without Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones with suspected cases of Covid-19 – were not at their most scintillating but they dominated and their record-breaking 2000th league win was sealed, appropriately, with a cracker in the build up to Christmas.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was the game’s best player and he put the gloss on his performance, which included a superb tackle on Ryan Fraser, with a drive so pure from 25 yards that it was still gaining speed as hit the back of the Kop End net.
‘Unbelievable,’ said Klopp, who expects more positive Covid cases to come to light.
‘Really cool to watch. His shooting technique is different level. The main thing is to stay positive and that is what he did. It was a difficult game but we still won it. Absolutely deserved.’
Yet it had all started so scruffily. Thiago Alcantara see passes that others can’t but he couldn’t see the danger that was in front of him after seven minutes when his carelessness gave Newcastle the chance to race into a shock lead.
Shelvey celebrates in front of the travelling supporters after his superb opening goal against his former side on Thursday
Yet Jota equalised in the 21st minute after Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had initially brilliantly saved his header
Newcastle were furious with referee Mike Dean that the goal stood, with Isaac Hayden down in the box holding his head
Salah then quickly fired in at the near post in the 25th minute after Dean played a good advantage for the Egyptian to pounce
Newcastle had launched a quick counter-attack but it seemed certain to come to nothing when Allan Saint-Maximim’s cross from the left failed to find a team-mate. Thiago, with plenty of time, tried to clear first time but he succeeded in only finding Shelvey, who promptly fired in from 25 yards.
Both managers were smiling as Shelvey, once of this parish, wheeled away to the delirious Newcastle fans at the Anfield Road End and it is safe to say both smiles were born of disbelief: Howe couldn’t have foreseen such an opportunity, Klopp was stunned by his side’s sloppiness.
Soon, though, they began to play. Jota seemed most likely to profit, having tested Martin Dubravka in the sixth minute then flashed a shot into the side-netting on 18 minutes, and he was indeed the man to secure parity, no matter how much it enraged Howe.
Liverpool’s tails were up and, quickly, they had the lead. It was nearly a case of a penalty and 10 men for the visitors – Schar almost upended Mane after he seized on Shelvey’s dreadful back pass – but Mike Dean’s excellent advantage allowed play to continue and Salah was on hand to fire in.
What a season he is having. We seem to say it every week but the swagger with which he is performing radiates from him, the belief that whenever he gets the ball he will do something. It is actually a surprise now when he misses, as was the case in the 35th minute.
Salah celebrates another goal at Anfield – the forward also scored Liverpool’s winner at the weekend against Aston Villa
Jacob Murphy struck just wide midway through the second-half as the struggling visitors valiantly stayed in the contest
Salah was surprisingly substituted with 15 minutes left on the clock and seemed unhappy at his manager for the decision
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s instinctive first time pass sent Salah galloping free but, as the crowd drew their breath to celebrate, he got his angle slightly wrong and nudged a left-footed shot the wrong side of the post. The rueful smile told you he felt there would be a chance to atone.
On this occasion, however, he was wrong. Salah become so isolated in the second half that Klopp changed him for Roberto Firmino – the way he scuttled off and the way he slapped his manager’s hand showed you how unhappy he was at that decision – to pose some different questions.
Ultimately, they got the third Klopp wanted and it came from the game’s best player. Alexander-Arnold thrashed a 25-yard drive that fizzed past Dubravka and that, for the time being, was that. Whether the same can be said about the season as whole, we can only guess.
‘I have been waiting for that for five years,’ said Alexander-Arnold, who somehow missed Dean with his shot as the referee ran across him.
‘I have had a few from edge of box which I have dragged but I caught this one sweet. We will focus on football until told otherwise.’
Yet Liverpool did eventually make sure of all three points with Dubravka powerless to stop Alexander-Arnold’s piledriver
Jurgen Klopp’s side narrow the gap at the top of the Premier League and was beaming with Alexander-Arnold afterwards
Re-live all the action as it happened with Sportsmail’s Kieran Jackson
Liverpool hosted Newcastle at Anfield on Thursday night as Jurgen Klopp’s men looked to continue their winning streak.
The Reds saw off Aston Villa at the weekend courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s penalty, while Eddie Howe’s side were looking to bounce back after a heavy defeat at Leicester.
Sportsmail’s Kieran Jackson provided live coverage of Liverpool vs Newcastle in the Premier League including all the build-up, team news and in-game updates.
You can also keep up to date with Chelsea’s match against Everton here.
