Newcastle 0-1 Liverpool (Keita, 19′)
Liverpool kept the pressure on Manchester City after moving ahead of them to go top of the Premier League table courtesy of Naby Keita’s first-half winner against Newcastle at St James’ Park.
With the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal looming on Tuesday, Jurgen Klopp opted to make five changes with Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara the headline absentees.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the rotation, Liverpool looked disjointed in the opening 15 minutes, but it didn’t take long for them to click into gear. Newcastle felt aggrieved that a meaty challenge from James Milner on Fabian Schar went unpunished in the build-up to Keita’s opener, but they could have done more to prevent the Guinean from waltzing through to score.
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The challenge by Milner was checked by VAR, but the goal was allowed to stand as the veteran midfielder, who was excellent against his former club, got a touch to the ball before making contact.
Even without Salah, Liverpool carried a significant threat on the counter-attack. Luis Diaz sprinted the length of the pitch with Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane joining to create a three-on-two after a Newcastle free-kick had been cleared, but Mane fired straight at Martin Dubravka after being teed up by the Colombian.
Miguel Almiron thought he had equalised after scoring past Alisson at the second attempt before the assistant referee raised his flag for offside – a decision that saw the Paraguayan’s trademark grin quickly vanish from view. At the other end, Jota drew a spectacular stop from Dubravka with a powerful header that is quickly becoming his signature move.
Despite controlling possession, Liverpool found a second goal hard to come by, although they should have doubled their advantage just past the hour mark through Mane. The Senegalese played a one-two with stand-in right-back Joe Gomez but fired wide when well-positioned inside Newcastle’s penalty area.
Player ratings
Newcastle (4-3-3): M Dubravka 8 – E Krafth 6 (J Murphy 6), F Schar 6 (J Lascelles 6), D Burn 6, M Targett 7 – J Shelvey 7, Bruno Guimaraes 7, J Willock 6 (C Wood 6) – M Almiron 6, A Saint-Maximin 6, Joelinton 6
Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 7 – J Gomez 8, J Matip 6, V Van Dijk 6, A Robertson 7 – J Henderson 6 (Fabinho 6), J Milner 8 (Thiago 6), N Keita 8 – S Mane 6 (M Salah 6), D Jota 6, L Diaz 7
Man of the match: Martin Dubravka (Newcastle)
Mane’s final action of the game before being replaced by Salah was to catch Dubravka on the knee with his studs and he was perhaps fortunate to only receive a yellow card for the challenge. Not for the first time this season, perhaps.
Much to Klopp’s frustration, Liverpool continued to be wasteful in front of goal, with Jota firing straight at Dubravka when a calmer head was required. Alisson, by contrast, had barely anything to do, but he stood tall to deny Chris Wood one-on-one, although the striker was deemed to be offside anyway.
Dubravka denied Jota for the third time with a flying stop to his left and rushed out to deny Salah from racing through at the end. Sandwiched between those two chances was a rare Newcastle effort on target, when Alisson denied his Brazilian compatriot and Newcastle’s man of the moment Bruno Guimaraes with a comfortable save down to his right.
Klopp made a beeline for Divock Origi after his exploits in last weekend’s Merseyside derby win; this time Keita was the recipient of the Klopp bear-hug at full-time after being Liverpool’s difference-maker.
Robertson: Gomez was different class today | Klopp: I loved our performance
Andy Robertson singled Joe Gomez out for praise after the game and stated that the right-back’s display was indicative of the strength of Liverpool’s squad.
“Today I thought we were really solid, they didn’t have many chances from what I can remember,” he told BT Sport.
“I thought Joe Gomez was different class and like Milly (James Milner) said we need everyone in the squad. We’re blessed to have everybody fit right now maybe apart from Bobby [Firmino] but a lot of us are fit and healthy and fighting for places in the starting XI.
“We made five changes today, but we had man of the match (Milner), Gomez was different class, Naby Keita, so it just shows that the lads coming in are putting in big performances and we’ll need that from now until the end of the season.”
“The performance was absolutely outstanding I have to say, I loved it,” said Klopp afterwards. “We controlled the game in so many ways.
“It was difficult, the only plan they had obviously was long balls to our right side… we had some moments where we struggled because it’s just difficult, but the rest we really controlled it.”
Klopp was also full of praise for Liverpool’s stand-ins, saying: “The impact that we have from the bench in games is outstanding but we now it’s really coming from the bench before a game pretty much.
“We expect a lot, but the boys have to deliver. Joe Gomez, what a game. Naby Keita, what a game, James Milner, what a game. That’s three. Diogo Jota, oh my god, what a game. Joel Matip as well. And the other five, six (who started against Villarreal) had to go again.”
Klopp hopeful his new deal will convince Salah and Mane to stay
By Nick Tanner
Jurgen Klopp hopes his decision to extend his tenure to 2026 will give Liverpool the stability not only to attract players in the transfer market but possibly influence stars like Mo Salah and Sadio Mane to sign new contracts – both of them have a year left on their current deals.
“It is important to a lot of people to know [my future] early,” he added. “It is good for transfer windows. We cannot guarantee success but we can guarantee stability and in these difficult times, that is a big thing.”
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As for Salah and Mane, he added: “In life, there are more things to think about than who the manager is, but knowing who the manager and coaching staff are is an important thing.
“If it is a positive sign for the boys, then great, but I don’t think this will be the one decisive thing for whatever decision they have to make. It’s their own life. My relationship with both of them is great. We just wanted to guarantee that everyone who wants to be here knows what he can expect.
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