Last Saturday Newcastle lost 2-0 to Liverpool when they were outplayed by a very positive home side. Although the magpies held out well for the first half hour, Mohamed Salah soon put an end to Newcastle's optimism by putting the reds ahead before Sadio Mané finished the job in the second half with a sweet strike from just inside the box.
Match (First Half)
From the start Newcastle weren't really in the game, usually just hoofing the ball up the field whenever they got possession. In the few attacks Newcastle had the ball would usually end up going straight to the keeper or we'd just get tackled. In the first twenty minutes Liverpool had a dozen attacks that they either messed up or were handled by the Newcastle defense. Paul Dummett and Jamaal Lascelles being the best performers in the first half, Dummett even looking like he had Salah in his pocket for a while, that is until the first goal came...
With forty minutes on the clock a Newcastle mistake in the centre-circle led to a counter attack by Oxlade Chamberlian, who brushed past Diame while dribbling down the center of the pitch before passing to a completely unmarked Mohamed Salah (who giving his goal record should've been the main priority for our defenders) who struck the ball off the keeper and in with his right foot. From this point, you pretty much knew that Liverpool were going to win this match.
However Newcastle did have one opportunity to get a goal. In added time of the first half, Mikel Merino back heeled the ball to Mo Diame on the edge of the box who struck a fearsome, dipping strike at Loris Karius. The German keeper had to go full stretch and hit the ball away with his fingertips and out for a corner. That was the best Newcastle had to offer in the whole ninety minutes.
Match (Second Half)
Ten minutes into the second half Liverpool doubled their lead through Sadio Mane. After he created the initial move, Roberto Firmino played him a great ball right through the center of our defense before the Mane walloped the ball into the far right of the goal. Basically finishing us off there and then.
Newcastle didn't really make any effort to get any goals back for the remainder of the game, but Liverpool could've got a penalty near the end of the game when Jamaal Lascelles' clear foul was actually just outside the box and wasn't properly seen by the referee, probably saving Lascelles from a straight red card and Newcastle from potentially conceding a third. The match finished 2-0 to Liverpool.
Next Game
Our next game comes on Saturday 10th of March at home to 17th place Southampton, our last meeting with them was a 2-2 draw at St Mary's where the magpies took the lead twice and almost got a late winner through a Florian Lejeune header which was unfortunately cleared off the line.
This is a must-win game if we want to be playing in the premiership next year and a game we should really be winning anyway, especially since it's at home. Islam Slimani will also hopefully make his debut in this game after a near two month wait for his first match.