Newcastle headed to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Premier League tonight having not won there since 1994.
Alexander Isak got passed clear to play as the Home Office confirmed his work permit application had been successful. He was thrust into the starting lineup in a much-depleted team that had Geordie nerves jangling. No Botman, no Schar, no Guimaraes, no Saint-Maximin, no Wilson ….. no problem?
The first half was very stop-start, especially the first twenty minutes when Newcastle found one of their players on the deck every couple of minutes after a few tasty challenges and clashes oof heads. Nothing overly malicious, but not exactly within the spirit of the game either.
Who Was Your MOTM v Liverpool?
Alexander Isak
Matt Targett
Dan Burn
Other
Ryan Fraser looked extremely lively in the first half chasing down balls and offering attacking options. He also came close to giving the Magpies the lead after Targett laid off the ball for Fraser to control the ball on the edge of the box with a cheeky turn and first-time shot that drifted just high and wide.
It was Newcastle who took the lead on 38 minutes and it was the new man, Isak who latched on to a Sean Longstaff through ball and fired the ball into the top corner past Allison. A dream start for life as a Magpie for the £63m man.
Newcastle made it to halftime 1-0 up despite constant pressure from The Reds, who managed to rack up eight corners but never tested Nick Pope.
Liverpool came out fired up for the second half, but it was Newcastle who had the ball in the net again on 54 minutes as Alexander Isak broke through the defence, turned Robertson inside out and fired beyond Allison only for the offside flag to be raised. Replays showed that the decision was on the questionable side. VAR ruled it offside, but it looks for all the world that they got it wrong.
I'm struggling with that. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/lmeyOvcDpy
— Taylor Payne (@TaylorandPayne) August 31, 2022
Harvey Elliot had Liverpool’s first shot on target on 60 minutes, firing a drilled shot towards the bottom corner, but Nick Pope was equal to it. However, less than a minute later Firmino had the ball in the net when Salah picked out his run into the box and Firmino was able to slot it home.
That goal woke up the Liverpool fans and players as Newcastle had to endure several waves of attack from the hosts.
Chris Wood and Jacob Murphy came on at the hour mark to replace arguably Newcastle’s best players, Ryan Fraser and Alexander Isak.
Elliot Anderson was introduced on 83 minutes replacing Miguel Almiron. Although Newcastle had very little possession in the Liverpool half as the home side pushed for a winner.
Newcastle, however, remained resolute … right up until Carvalho scored in the EIGHTH minute of 5 added minutes. Another kick in the teeth from the officials after ruling Isak’s second goal offside. Eddie Howe will have every right to be furious and questioning what is going on after that display by the officials. The only satisfying aspect is that so many Liverpool fans headed to the exit early and missed the goal.
As far as a Newcastle man of the match goes, there were plenty of contenders. Isak showed what an asset he is going to be. Willock and Trippier both had excellent games. Big Dan Burn handled his task very well, but I’m going with Matt Targett. He was an attacking outlet when needed and rock solid at the back.
Newcastle suffer their first defeat of the season, but that’s not what will be the issue here, it’ll be the manner in which it happened.
Liverpool & PGMOL 2-1 Newcastle
Proud of the team ashamed of the @FA_PGMOL Absolutely superb from our lads.
Didn’t deserve to get beat tonight.
Bad decision, after corrupt decision, after lunacy! The state of refs in the league and the amount of protection towards the cartel is unbelievable.#NUFC pic.twitter.com/JYkrpufLja
— Magpie 24/7 (@Magpie24_7) August 31, 2022