As dress rehearsals go it could hardly have been worse for Newcastle. Eight days before their long-awaited Carabao Cup final date with Manchester United, Eddie Howe’s team not only lost a Premier League game for only the second time this season but had Nick Pope sent off. The resultant suspension means the England goalkeeper will miss out on a Wembley appearance.
Newcastle remain fourth yet Liverpool, who beat them at Anfield in August, are now only six points and four places behind with a game in hand. Not that such encouraging statistics necessarily mean Jürgen Klopp’s side are totally renascent, let alone set to win the race for Champions League qualification.
Perhaps significantly there were long periods when the visitors and prolonged possession appeared strangers and Liverpool’s pressing was more Europop than heavy metal.
Tragically this was the day the music stopped for one north-east based family and it all began with a minute’s heartfelt applause for the former Newcastle and Ghana winger Christian Atsu who died in the Turkey-Syria earthquake. Atsu’s widow, Marie-Claire Rupio, had brought their three children to the ground and they witnessed an outpouring of emotion from Newcastle’s fans, players and backroom staff which emphasised precisely how much loved a 31-year-old described as “a beautiful person” by his final club, Hatayspor, was on Tyneside.
Atsu experienced some tough battles with Liverpool defenders during five years at St James’ Park and his old friends were soon up against it here when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s incisive 12th-minute through ball prefaced Darwin Núñez shooting, right footed, beyond Pope.
There was a suspicion of handball about the manner in which Núñez controlled Alexander-Arnold’s dropping delivery but a VAR review found no rule infringements and the goal stood.
Five minutes later Klopp was celebrating again. Liverpool’s second goal was a good one too. It all began with Stefan Bajcetic stealing possession from Sean Longstaff and concluded with a glorious chipped pass from Mohamed Salah precipitating Cody Gakpo’s shot punishing the advancing Pope. Again, a VAR review ensued but Gakpo had timed his run to perfection and there was no illegitimacy about his finish.
It was not the home goalkeeper’s day. In the 22nd minute Pope reminded the watching England manager, Gareth Southgate, that footwork is not his forte by dashing out of his area in an attempt to see off the danger posed by the onrushing Salah.
Pope stooped to head the ball clear of the Egyptian but, instead, fell over, instinctively extended an arm and ended up handling outside the area. Anthony Taylor, the referee, had no hesitation in brandishing a red card.
It all meant that poor Elliot Anderson’s Premier League debut was restricted to just 23 minutes with the midfielder being sacrificed to allow Martin Dubravka to take over in goal.
Dubravka, though, cannot deputise for the suspended Pope after appearing for Manchester United in an earlier round of the League Cup during an early season loan stint at Old Trafford.
Instead the former Liverpool keeper Loris Karius, currently Newcastle’s third choice, is in contention to play in his first big game since the 2018 Champions League final. Might redemption beckon for a man whose confidence was shattered by that showpiece?
Afterwards Howe said Pope was “visibly upset” by “a huge blow for us” and revealed that he had still to decide whether Karius or Newcastle’s supposed fourth choice keeper, Mark Gillespie, will start at Wembley.
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Howe’s 10 men caused their guests problems and Alisson needed to be at his best to tip a shot from Allan Saint-Maximin, who had turned Andy Robertson inside out, on to the crossbar while a Dan Burn header subsequently struck the same piece of woodwork but Salah, in particular, was impressing on the break.
Yet Howe, whose side are now without a win in their last four league games, could take heart from an outstanding, indefatigable, performance on the part of the recently out-of-sorts Saint-Maximin who combined very well with Alexander Isak. Tellingly, the Frenchman’s delivery prompted Isak to send a shot swerving narrowly over the bar following a defence-disorientating swivel as Liverpool began losing their way – along with the ball – in a second half Klopp did not seem to relish watching.
Or at least not until Newcastle finally ran out of steam and Geordie thoughts turned to Wembley.
