Newcastle United left Anfield empty handed after suffering a last gasp hammer blow as Fabio Carvalho struck in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for Liverpool.
The goal sparked an angry exchange between both benches with Liverpool keeper coach John Achterberg flicking a V sign to the Toon coaching team and some overzealous celebrations in the faces of the home staff. If anything the reaction from Liverpool's bench showed how rattled the Reds had been on a night in which United showed they can rub shoulders with the top two.
An FA investigation is set to follow with Newcastle saying nothing about the encounter between staff. With Newcastle players booed off after being accused of time wasting, it sets up what will be an intense rematch in February next year.
READ MORE: Alexander Isak's scary message to Premier League defences after Newcastle United opening goal
Frustrations from Liverpool were boiling over long before stoppage time
The Liverpool staff were furious with Newcastle's alleged time wasting in the first half with Matt Targett the subject of abuse from Reds players as he lay injured on the floor near the dugout. And even during the half-time break, Liverpool coach Andreas Kornmayer lashed out a verbal volley at Sven Botman after accusing him of invading space where the Reds were looking to warm up at the start of the second half.
Matt Ritchie and Karl Darlow tried to lighten the mood by telling Kornmayer he was going over the top but the ugly mood went on into the second half. Not least as Newcastle came within touching distance of a point.
Astonishing VAR call costs Newcastle first win in 28 years at Liverpool
For all the talk of the amount of added time, what about Alexander Isak's goal that wasn't? The Sweden star looked just onside and in real time the linesman kept his flag down.
Somehow VAR managed to come to the conclusion that Isak's foot was ahead of Joe Gomez. But on closer examination it is the Liverpool man playing Isak onside.
Had Isak's goal stood it would have been more than likely to win the game for Newcastle. Given the fact that Callum Wilson has already had a good goal chalked off at Brighton and TV replays have shown valid penalty shouts against Man City and Wolves, Newcastle could be much further up the table with more efficient refereeing.
Eddie Howe defends players after time wasting accusations
Newcastle have played away to Tranmere, Wolves and Liverpool in the space of a week. They also had one day less rest time than Liverpool who didn't play in the League Cup at the same second round stage.
Jurgen Klopp and a host of other Liverpool players enforced the narrative that Newcastle were time wasting but Howe said: "There was no gamesmanship from our perspective, it was just tired bodies."
Incredibly, Newcastle now just have one more training day before they face Crystal Palace.
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