Premier League
Superb Sadio Saves the Day
Liverpool needed some magic from their front three to get past a resilient Newcastle side. The Magpies took an early lead from an unlikely source. Left-back Jetro Willems put a powerful effort into the top corner, much to the delight of his boss Steve Bruce.
After taking the lead, Newcastle successfully absorbed pressure from a frustrated Liverpool offense. Ultimately, Sadio Mané was able to put Liverpool ahead at halftime with a quick-fire brace.
In the second half it was all Liverpool. Wave after wave of attack was thwarted by Newcastle’s backline but Liverpool’s offense was in full flow. A few key saves from Dubravka kept Newcastle in the match. However, some trickery from Firmino on the edge of the box put Salah through on goal and the Egyptian finished with aplomb.
Liverpool have maintained there undefeated start to the season and keep their 14 match win streak alive. The Reds are on top in the Premier League but the must now turn their focus to Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Napoli.
On the other hand, Newcastle turn their attention to next weekends encounter against Brighton & Hove Albion. This could be a key matchup because both clubs will want to keep out of the relegation battle.
Willems’ Wonderstrike
Liverpool started slowly in this match and Newcastle looked to take advantage. Christian Atsu was the danger man early in the match. He played a through ball in the path of Joelinton but Van Djik was able to get there first.
The warning signs were there for Liverpool. Newcastle won back possession and Christian Atsu took the ball down just inside Liverpool’s half. Trent Alexander-Arnold was out of position allowing Atsu to slot a pass out to Willems on the left. Alexander-Arnold made up the ground forcing Willems to put the ball onto his weaker right foot and preventing the cross.
Willems had other ideas. The Dutchman swiftly used his left foot to set himself to shoot on his weaker side. You would never know it was his weaker side because Willems rocketed the ball into the top corner giving Newcastle the lead.
Mane’s First Half Magic
The old cliche of a team “scoring too early” immediately came to after Willems’ goal. Surely Liverpool would get back into it. For the first 20 minutes Liverpool looked very out of sorts. It could have been due to squad rotation or jet lag from the international break.
Whatever the case, Liverpool were obviously frustrated. Only a quarter of the way through the match and Liverpool were resorting to speculative long range efforts. Adrián pushed Joelinton over an offside call and Liverpool were not able to pull off pass that they normally do with ease.
Then, Jamaal Lascelles wrapped Joel Matip up in the box and it seemed like a whistle was inevitable. However, Andre Marriner and VAR thought differently. Just three weeks ago Lascelles got away with the same thing on Harry Kane. It seemed like it was going to be one of those days for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Enter Sadio Mané. He had struggled for the first portion of the match along with the rest of the team. Yet, one moment of magic is all it takes. Robertson was on one of his marauding runs down the left wing with Mané alongside him. Robertson cut inside his man and did enough to put the ball into Mané’s path. He then rifles the ball into the top corner and Anfield erupts.
Firmino came on for the injured Divock Origi and had an instant impact. He picked up the ball just inside Newcastle’s half and sent a hopeful ball forward towards Mané. Dubravka was undoubtedly the favorite to reach the ball first and get his side out of danger. Instead, he fumbles the ball and it bounces over him into Mané’s path allowing the forward to slot the ball into the empty net.
Salah Secures the Victory
The second half was almost all Liverpool. Newcastle full back Emil Krafth squandered their best opportunity of the half, but otherwise it was mostly one way traffic. Joelinton became more and more isolated as the Reds pushed for their third goal.
Martin Dubravka kept Alexander-Arnold, Firmino, and Robertson out with a few fine saves. However, he could only manage to keep his team in the game until the 72nd minute. Salah picked up the ball from Fabinho and played it to the edge of the box to Firmino. The Brazilian showed his stunning skills with a backheel flick back into the path of Salah. Salah then marauded into the box and produced a left footed finish that sealed all three points for the Reds.
Though the victory was wrapped up Liverpool pressed on and Mané had the ball in the back of the net but celebrations were cut short. In the build up to the goal Firmino was offside, cruelly denying the Senegal international his first Premier League hat-trick for the Reds.
Injuries Pile Up for Newcastle
Prior to the match Newcastle had a laundry list of inactive players and things only got worse. The injured players prior to today’s match consisted of Allan Saint-Maximin, Matt Ritchie, Sean Longstaff, Dwight Gayle, Andy Carroll, DeAndre Yedlin, Florian Lejeune, and Rob Elliot.
The match was quite intense and physical and the players will definitely be well aware of that tomorrow morning. Central defender Fabian Schär came off towards the end of the match with an apparent calf injury.
At the same time midfield Isaac Hayden went down with an injury but was forced to soldier on due to lack of substitutions. The extent of his injury is not yet known but an update on both Hayden and Schär will be out in the next day or so.
Newcastle are not the only ones to pick up an injury. Liverpool may be down a striker after Divock Origi went off in the 37th minute. He had picked up a knock earlier in the match but went down again later in the match to be replaced by Roberto Firmino. The Reds will hope it is just a knock especially as the Champion’s League approaches. Origi being healthy is vital to Jurgen Klopp’s squad rotation with Firmino the only other out and out center forward.
Written by Chase Brittingham
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