Mohamed Salah scored twice, assisted once and missed a penalty in his final game before the Africa Cup of Nations, as Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-2 at Anfield.
Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle
Premier League (20), Anfield
January 1, 2024
Goals
Salah 49′ (assist – Nunez)
Isak 54′
Jones 74′ (assist – Jota)
Gakpo 77′ (assist – Salah)
Botman 81′
Salah pen 86′ (assist – Jota)
It was a fast start at Anfield, with a late kickoff on New Year’s Day in torrential rain seemingly not affecting the players or fans alike, as Liverpool were all over Newcastle.
Newcastle were barely able to get the ball out of their half, and the Reds were twice thwarted in a matter of seconds as Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones had shots blocked.
Luis Diaz had the ball in the back of the net with a well-taken finish after Nunez was snuffed out, but the goal was ruled out for a fractional offside as the striker ran off Dan Burn.
Straight after, Diaz was brought down by the lunging Sven Botman, with Liverpool awarded a penalty which Salah fired straight at Martin Dubravka.
Liverpool created chance after chance, with the No. 7 excellent on the left and, sadly, the No. 9 wasteful in the middle, while Newcastle were ruing an offside goal of their own from Burn.
Referee Anthony Taylor somehow overlooked two yellow-card challenges from Joelinton, instead booking Diaz for dissent after a frustrated reaction to the second.
HT: Liverpool 0-0 Newcastle
Jurgen Klopp will have urged his players to set their frustrations at Taylor aside at the break, and they put that into action soon after the restart as Salah put Liverpool 1-0 up.
It came through an outstanding break started by Alexander-Arnold and led by Dominik Szoboszlai and Diaz, with Nunez eventually cuing the No. 11 up for his 150th Premier League goal for the club.
Unfortunately, Newcastle pegged them back minutes later, with Alexander Isak drifting off Virgil van Dijk, and the Liverpool captain showing his sluggishness of last season in failing to slide in for a block as the striker lifted in.
The manager decided it was time for change around the hour mark, with Szoboszlai, Diaz and, after missing a raft of chances, Nunez all coming off and Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota coming on.
And the substitutes helped make the goal that put Liverpool back in front, with Salah finding the bright run of Jota and the Portuguese squaring for Jones to tap in and make it 2-1.
Gakpo was then on hand to make it 3-1, with something of a reluctant finish as he bundled Salah’s brilliant outside-of-the-boot assist in beyond Dubravka, Liverpool’s third goal coming after 30 shots.
But there was another twist, Botman given a free header in front of and above Jota to reduce the deficit.
Jota then won a debatable penalty as he rounded Dubravka following a stunning pass from the returning Alexis Mac Allister, and this time, Salah made it count.
TIA Man of the Match: Curtis Jones
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Endo (Mac Allister 75′), Szoboszlai (Gravenberch 64′), Jones; Salah, Diaz (Gakpo 64′), Nunez (Jota 64′)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Quansah, Bradley, McConnell, Elliott
Newcastle: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn (Hall 82′); Guimaraes, Longstaff, Miley (Almiron 54′); Joelinton (Lascelles 82′), Gordon, Isak
Subs not used: Karius, Gillespie, Dummett, Ritchie, Krafth, A.Murphy
Next match: Arsenal (A) – FA Cup – Sunday, December 7, 4.30pm (GMT)
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