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Salah scores twice as Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-2 – ARN News Centre
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Mohamed Salah’s second-half brace made up for a missed penalty as Liverpool kicked off the new year three points clear atop the Premier League standings with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United at a rain-drenched Anfield on Monday.
Juergen Klopp’s team, who began the day level with Aston Villa on points, now have 45 from 20 games. Villa have 42 points while Manchester City, who have played one fewer game, are third on 40. Newcastle are ninth on 29.
“It was a sensational game from my team,” Klopp told BBC. “We started extremely lively. Super game. I loved so many aspects of the game bar the goals we conceded.
“Unbelievable atmosphere. Counter-pressing wise it was for football schools,” he added. “They have to watch that, take it and keep it. It was everything good.”
The 31-year-old Salah, who has 151 Premier League goals for Liverpool, changed his boots at halftime and the switch paid off handsomely. His two goals moved him even with City’s Erling Haaland as joint top scorers with 14 goals. He is the joint top on assists, level with Villa’s Ollie Watkins on eight.
Liverpool dominated the game, and Salah, who had fired a first-half penalty straight at goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, finally broke the deadlock in the 49th minute when Darwin Nunez cut the ball across to the Egyptian for a close-range finish.
Alexander Isak scored against the run of play with Newcastle’s second shot of the game in the 54th minute when he ran onto a through ball from Anthony Gordon and knocked it past keeper Alisson into the far corner.
However, Curtis Jones put the home side back in front in the 74th minute with a tap-in after a pass across goal from Diogo Jota, and Cody Gakpo scored four minutes later.
Sven Botman pulled one back for Newcastle in the 81st before Salah, who was playing his last game before departing for the African Cup of Nations, struck from the penalty spot after Jota had been fouled by Dubravka to seal the win in the 86th.
“Crazy match. Both sides created chances,” Dubravka, 34, told Sky Sports. “I was there to try to help my team mates. Unfortunately they created so many chances and were clinical.”
Liverpool were on the front foot against Newcastle virtually from kickoff, and a superb display by keeper Dubravka kept the visitors in the game.
The hosts had 18 shots in the first half to Newcastle’s one, their most in the first half of a Premier League game since April 2016 against Everton.
Liverpool’s early chances were met by groans from the Anfield crowd, including Trent Alexander-Arnold’s strike following Salah’s missed penalty that he launched well over the crossbar.
Alexander-Arnold also had a long shot at a tight angle hit the far post.
But they finally found the net after the break and the floodgates opened.
“It’s a great result for us. The game was very intense and we managed to pick up three points and now we are top of the table. We need to stay calm and win every game,” Salah told Sky Sports.
“The players spoke in the dressing room. ‘We have to stay calm’. I missed the pen. I didn’t want to leave for the national team with that performance.”
Newcastle have now lost four of their last five league matches and face champions Manchester City on January 13 after their FA Cup third round meeting with fierce rivals Sunderland on Saturday.
“A lot happened. Action packed game. We’re disappointed with the way we defended,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said.
Howe argued Salah’s second penalty, awarded when Dubravka dove in to stop Jota and the Liverpool player appeared to take two steps before stumbling, should not have stood.
“It shouldn’t be given. Martin has pulled his hand away. He’s had two steps before going down. For me it’s not a penalty,” Howe said. “We feel hard done by.”
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Tributes have poured in after the son of former Chelsea star Eddie Newton was found dead alongside his friend following a hike in the UAE, where temperatures soared to 50C.
Cassius Newton, 34, and his friend Aran Martinson, 33, were found by rescuers on July 18 after setting out on a hike in the mountainous Wadi Naqab region.
The pair, from Dorset and Essex respectively, both lived and worked in the UAE. Their bodies were discovered between 3km and 4km from their vehicle.
According to a report, Chelmsford area coroner Michelle Brown said their provisional causes of death included cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Cassius, a non-league footballer, was the son of former Chelsea midfielder and coach Eddie Newton, who spent more than a decade with the club.
His wife was in the UK when she became concerned after Cassius failed to contact her following the hike and reported him missing.
The two men had been living at a luxury resort in Ras Al Khaimah.
Tributes after desert tragedy
Tributes poured in after the deaths.
Aran’s wife described him as “incredibly driven, hardworking and ambitious”, saying he had recently begun a new chapter in his career and was excited about the future.
Blackfield & Langley Football Club paid tribute to their former player, saying: “It is with heavy hearts that we share the sad news of the passing of former player Cassius Newton; our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”
National League club Eastleigh, where Cassius had previously played, said it was “deeply saddened” by his death.
Chelsea connection
Cassius’ father Eddie Newton played for Chelsea from 1990 to 2001 and famously scored in the club’s 1997 FA Cup final victory.
The former midfielder also represented Cardiff City, Birmingham City, Oxford United and Barnet.
After retiring as a player, Newton moved into coaching, working as assistant manager at MK Dons and West Brom before returning to Chelsea.
He later served as assistant manager under Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benítez.
(With inputs from BBC, The Sun)
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