Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo scored as Liverpool closed the gap on fourth to six points with a 2-0 win over 10-player Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday Night Football.
Liverpool were put under the cosh by the hosts early on but quickly went 2-0 up against the run of play with goals from Darwin Nunez (10) and Cody Gakpo (17).
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was then sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity with a handball outside his box (22). The England international will now miss next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Undeterred by going a player down, Newcastle continued to look the most dangerous as Alisson kept out Allan Saint-Maximin’s left-foot strike with some help from the bar before Dan Burn and Fabian Schar missed gilt-edged chances with their heads from set-pieces either side of the break.
There was a minute’s applause before the game for former Newcastle forward Christian Atsu, who was found dead on Saturday morning in the rubble of his home following the earthquake in Turkey which took place nearly a fortnight ago.
Liverpool have now done the double over Newcastle this season – and remain the only team to have beaten them in the Premier League – as they move up to eighth. The Magpies, meanwhile, are now on a four-game winless run in the league ahead of a huge game at Wembley against Man Utd.
Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool boss, said the result is “massive, massive, massive, massive” for their season but challenged his side to show more consistency as he confirmed Nunez picked up a shoulder injury and would be assessed over the coming days.
(Skysport)
