Mohamed Salah scored twice on Monday as Liverpool stretched Newcastle United’s miserable run with a 4-2 victory at Anfield to open up a three-point lead at the top of the English Premier League.
The Reds should have run out even more convincing winners as Martin Dubravka saved Salah’s first-half penalty among 10 stops.
However, Salah made amends from the spot after he, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo netted in the second half to inflict a seventh defeat in eight games on Newcastle.
Photo: AFP
Liverpool head into the Premier League’s winter break five points clear of title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, with Aston Villa posing an unexpected challenge in second place.
“A special game, special night,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “It was a sensational game from my team. We started extremely lively. Everyone saw Dubravka or we ourselves made sure the score didn’t get too clear.”
“Super game. I loved so many aspects of the game, bar the goals we conceded,” he added.
Newcastle, by contrast, remain down in ninth and 11 points off the top four as the spotlight grows on manager Eddie Howe.
The Magpies have the second worst away record in the Premier League this season, with just five points from 10 games.
Howe’s men were fortunate not to be blown away by an embarrassing scoreline in stormy conditions at Anfield as Liverpool registered the highest expected goals ever in a Premier League game of 7.53.
“We’re battling to get our best levels back. The effort and determination was there. As long as we continue to see that we’ll be fine,” Howe said. “We’re missing a lot of players and we’ve had a lot of tough fixtures in a congested December.”
Dubravka has struggled to deputise for the sidelined Nick Pope as Newcastle’s form has slumped in recent weeks while battling an injury crisis.
However, the Slovakian was in top form as he denied Darwin Nunez on a handful of occasions.
Luis Diaz did have the ball in the net midway through the first half, but the goal was ruled out for offside against Nunez.
Diaz was then upended in the box by Sven Botman, but Dubravka bailed out the Dutch defender by denying Salah his 150th Premier League goal for Liverpool from the spot.
The Egyptian, who was playing in his final game before heading out to the African Cup of Nations, has now missed four of his last 10 spot-kicks for the Reds.
“I thought: ‘Are you going to be leave for the national team with that performance?’” said Salah of his first-half display. “I just had to really focus, step up and make the difference and managed to do so.”
Liverpool’s pressure showed early in the second period, as for once Nunez showed a cool head to pick out Salah for a tap-in.
Yet completely against the run of play, Newcastle equalized just five minutes after falling behind.
Alexander Isak timed his run to perfection to latch onto Anthony Gordon’s through-ball and the Swedish striker slotted confidently past the advancing Alisson Becker.
That shock did not change the course of the game as the one-way traffic toward the Newcastle goal continued.
Nunez’s night ended in frustration as another golden chance came and went with his final touch as he headed wide.
Klopp sent on Diogo Jota and Gakpo, and they delivered what Nunez could not in front of goal.
Jota teed up Jones for a tap-in before Gakpo’s scuffed finish from Salah’s cross wrong-footed Dubravka.
Botman’s header briefly brought Newcastle back within one goal, but any hope of a remarkable fightback was extinguished in controversial fashion as Jota won a second penalty despite a delayed reaction to contact from Dubravka.
Klopp could not watch on the touchline, but this time his talisman did not disappoint, ensuring a very happy new year for Liverpool.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
RSS