Liverpool saw their lead at the Premier League summit cut down to seven points after drawing a remarkable six-goal thriller against Newcastle.
Mohamed Salah’s second-half double looked to have the Reds on course for the most dramatic of wins at St James’ Park on Wednesday night, only for Fabian Schar to then punish a late Caoimhin Kelleher misjudgement to secure a share of the spoils for the hosts.
Newcastle had led at half-time thanks to Alexander Isak’s terrific strike, only for Curtis Jones to level early in a pulsating second period. Anthony Gordon later restored the Magpies’ lead before Salah’s brace turned the game on its head as he also fired against the crossbar.
A memorable contest eventually finished 3-3, ending Liverpool’s run of seven consecutive victories across all competitions and seeing their title advantage trimmed by two points after in-form Arsenal defeated Manchester United and Chelsea’s comprehensive 5-1 win at bottom club Southampton.
Signs of far more attacking intent from Newcastle, but they will be hugely disappointed to have twice let the lead slip as they battle to return to the top half of the table. Eddie Howe’s side have now won just twice in their last 10 matches in the league.
Newcastle started the night with far more intensity and a ferocious high press, creating a stream of chances including an early effort from Sandro Tonali that was tipped around the post by Kelleher.
Liverpool took time to wake up as Alexis Mac Allister - who picked up a fifth yellow card of the season to rule him out of Saturday’s final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park - played the role of dangerman, forcing a strong low save from Nick Pope before clipping the outside of the post just moments later.
Newcastle grew stronger as the first half wore on, hitting the post themselves through Jacob Murphy before going in front after 35 minutes when Bruno Guimaraes released Isak, who ran at Virgil van Dijk before unleashing a powerful strike that flew beyond Kelleher.
It really should have been 2-0 just a couple of minutes later when Isak looked for Gordon early on the counter-attack and Joe Gomez was beaten too easily before a disappointing finish was vitally saved by Kelleher. Gordon then went down after getting a bump from Van Dijk, but the officials did not rule it worthy of punishment.
Liverpool were being dominated by Newcastle’s midfield trio and seeing struggles in defence, with Newcastle starting to tee off at will as Joelinton also went close before the interval.
No doubt with some stern words from Arne Slot ringing in their ears, but with no changes made, Liverpool quickly restored parity after the break when Salah’s low ball from the byline was swept high past Pope by Jones.
Suddenly Newcastle had to weather a storm as the rain poured down on Tyneside, but weather it they did before Gordon stepped inside Gomez and squeezed past Kelleher to restore their lead against the run of play just past the hour mark.
Slot made a triple substitution in response including the introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who helped to change the game with two assists for Salah to dispatch - the first a guided low finish into the far corner and the second a rifled effort after executing a fine swivel inside the box to bamboozle his marker. The Egyptian had also smashed against the crossbar at 2-2.
Isak had seen a second goal of his own ruled out before Salah’s heroics, drilling home into the bottom corner before the offside flag was raised. He was also denied a penalty after being felled by a risky challenge inside the box from Jarell Quansah.
There was still time for one final twist in the tale though, with Swiss defender Schar having the final say and earning Newcastle a point by sliding in from the most difficult of angles on the byline after Kelleher had tried and failed to claim a deep free-kick from Bruno Guimaraes.
