beat the host Newcastle 2-0 in the 24th round of the Premier League on the evening of February 18, Liverpool shortened the gap with the opponent’s fourth place to six points, and still played one game less.

The situation of the match at St James Park’s was arranged in the first half of the first half. In the 10th minute, from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long pass, Darwin Nunez controlled two beats and then crossed the corner to beat Nick Pope in the face-to-face position. The Newcastle players reacted when they thought that the Uruguayan striker let the ball touch his hand, but the referee and VAR team determined that he controlled the ball with his chest.

Seven minutes later, Liverpool sealed the victory. From Fabinho’s pass, Mohamed Salah clicked the ball with one touch for Cody Gakpo to break the offside trap and enter the penalty area. The Dutch striker didn’t take a good step, but he leaned over and defeated Pope. Gakpo opened fire for the second time in a row , after scoring his first goal in a Liverpool shirt in the win over Everton on February 13, also with a score of 2-0.

In the 22nd minute, Alisson Becker caught Kieran Trippier’s deep free kick and raised it for Salah to break the offside trap. Pope crosses the edge of the box, but clears the ball with a foul tip and lets the ball touch his hand. Referee Anthony Taylor immediately showed a red card directly to the Newcastle goalkeeper. Therefore, Elliot Anderson – the 20-year-old Scottish midfielder whose first start in the Premier League – had to make way for reserve goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

This direct red card caused Pope to miss the next three matches in English tournaments, including the Confederation Cup final against Man Utd on February 26, Man City on March 4 and Wolves on March 12 in the framework. English Premier League.

In particular, Newcastle could not use Dubravka in the final of the League Cup. The Slovakian goalkeeper plays for Man Utd on loan for the first half of the season, and played in the 2-0 win over Burnley in the round of 16 in December 2022. Therefore, he could not continue to play for Newcastle in the tournament.

According to British media, coach Eddie Howe is likely to have to use number three goalkeeper Loris Karius. In September 2022, he signed a half-year contract with Newcastle, then signed another half-year contract in the January 2023 transfer window. The last time the German goalkeeper played was in the Union Berlin shirt against Hoffenheim in February 2021.

Playing with a lack of people, Newcastle still made waves on the goal of the away team many times. In the 31st minute, Saint-Maximin made a series of fake moves before Andy Robertson and Jordan Henderson, then shot to the far corner and was pushed by Alisson to touch the bar. A few minutes later, it was midfielder Dan Burn’s turn to hit the wooden frame from the corner on the right.

On the opposite side, Nunez, Salah, Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino also squandered opportunities. However, a 2-0 victory was enough for Liverpool to rise to eighth with 35 points, six points behind Newcastle’s fourth place, but with one match left.

On February 21, Liverpool received Real in the first leg of the 1/8 Champions League round, then marched to Crystal Palace’s yard to kick the 25th round of the Premier League on February 25.

Matching lineup :

Newcastle : Pope, Trippier (Murphy 64), Schar, Botman, Burn, Longstaff, Joelinton (Ritchie 71), Anderson (Dubravka 24), Almiron (Gordon 64), Saint-Maximin, Isak (Wilson 64).

Liverpool : Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Bajcetic (Milner 59), Henderson (Elliott 59), Nunez (Firmino 59), Salah, Gakpo (Jota 59).