Newcastle United entertained Liverpool at St. James’ Park earlier this evening as they hoped to earn a good result at home in the Premier League. The Magpies made a good start to the game and scored the opening goal in the 25th minute when Anthony Gordon found the back of the net with a good finish. Newcastle found themselves at a numerical advantage just three minutes later when Virgil Van Dijk was given his marching orders by the referee. The 11-men of Newcastle managed to get to the half-time break with a 1-0 lead.
Eddie Howe’s men struggled to finish off the game in the second half and conceded the equaliser in the 81st minute when Darwin Nunez scored with a great strike. Nunez ended up scoring the match-winner in injury-time as Newcastle crashed to a lackluster 2-1 loss in Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each Newcastle United player performed during the clash against the Reds.
GK: Nick Pope – 6.5/10
The English keeper made two solid saves during the game but got beaten by two great finishes.
RB: Kieran Trippier – 7/10
He was strong in the air and managed to create some decent chances for his teammates from the right flank.
CB: Fabian Schar – 6/10
Schar was far from convincing with his performance on the defensive third of the pitch.
CB: Sven Botman – 5.5/10
Botman was solid in the first half. However, his error led to Nunez’ equaliser in the 81st minute.
LB: Dan Burn – 6.5/10
He did his fair share of defending and made one key chance going forward.
CM: Joelinton – 7/10
Joelinton anchored the midfield well and managed to engineer a few clear-cut chances for others around him in the Liverpool half.
CM: Bruno Guimaraes – 7/10
He got stuck in with a few solid tackles and was a good presence on the ball.
CM: Sandro Tonali – 7/10
Tonali caught the eye at times with his passing and energy at the centre of the park.
RW: Miguel Almiron – 7/10
Almiron caused a few headaches for the opposition and was desperately unlucky not to score with his goal-bound attempt which was expertly saved by Alisson Becker in the first half.
ST: Alexander Isak – 6.5/10
He was quite clever with his movements in the opponent’s half but failed to get his name on the scoresheet.
LW: Anthony Gordon – 8/10
Gordan caused all sorts of headaches for the Liverpool defenders and managed to find the back of the net with a calm finish in the first half.
Substitutes:
ST: Callum Wilson – 5.5/10
He failed to register a goal after coming off the bench.
LW: Harvey Barnes – 6/10
Barnes added some pace to Howe’s attack.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 6.5/10
He made one key chance in the final third.
CM: Elliot Anderson – N/A
LB: Matt Targett – N/A
