Mohamed Salah fails, Karl Darlow stars as mediocre Liverpool lose points at Newcastle

A mediocre Liverpool hobbled out of 2020 when Newcastle United drew scoreless at St James’ Park.

The visitors had a wealth of opportunities, particularly in the second half, but lacked the cutting edge required to take down Bruce’s impressive Magpies, just three days after West Brom tied them at Anfield.

One point sees Liverpool lead the Premier League by three points heading into 2021 after having played one more game than their closest rivals Manchester United, while Newcastle’s point sees them overtake Crystal Palace in the table and offers hope for a brighter spell ahead in the new year.

Newcastle’s Callum Wilson, who started in Miguel Almirón’s place in the only change from the team that lost to Manchester City, was buoyant during the first half, forcing Alisson to make an early save. And it was Wilson who came closest to opening the scoring for the hosts early on when he edged out Nathaniel Phillips before being repulsed by a Fabinho block at the near post.

Liverpool started slowly but grew in the match before the break and would have gone ahead if not for a superb save by Karl Darlow to deny Mohamed Salah when the Egyptian was clean.

The opportunities kept coming after the break, with Salah and Roberto Firmino missing more golden opportunities for the visitors and Fabian Schar producing an impressive clearance from the line to deny Sadio Mane at the end.

But Liverpool simply couldn’t find the winner in a tense final ten minutes as Newcastle held on to a point that deserved their spirited performance.

Liverpool didn’t look like themselves for much of the night at St James’ Park, and while they still feel they should have won it, Jurgen Klopp’s team will make the trip back to Merseyside knowing something is a little off here. moment.

It could be as simple as the congested match roster that catches up to players’ fitness, but the fact that Mo Salah and Firmino missed out on very presentable opportunities will also be a concern for Klopp. The defending champs have done an excellent job dealing with the loss of their first-choice central defenders in recent weeks, but there is not enough room at the top of the table for Liverpool to afford to disregard points like them. . I did tonight too many more times.

Klopp will have his fingers crossed that draws against West Brom and Newcastle are just a problem, and he can be thankful for a friendly schedule that causes his team to be delayed for Monday night’s game into the next matchday, which which grants its players a five day change – quite rare at this time of year.

The Newcastle keeper made some impressive saves in the match, none better than his fingertip save to deny Salah in the first half. As the pressure mounted late, it was Darlow who repeatedly denied Liverpool, and deservedly received a hug from his full-time coach.

However, this was not the case with a goalkeeper rescuing his team, as Newcastle had an excellent defensive performance in every way, limiting Liverpool to relatively few sights on goal. But when those opportunities came for the visitors, Darlow was up to the task.

Newcastle: Darlow 9, Yedlin 8, Schar 8, Fernandez 7, Clark 7, Ritchie 7, Hayden 6, M. Longstaff 6, Murphy 6, Joelinton 6, Wilson 8. Subs: Almiron 6, Lewis 6

Liverpool: Alisson 7, Alexander-Arnold 7, Phillips 5, Fabinho 6, Robertson 7, Milner 5, Henderson 6, Jones 5, Mane 7, Salah 6, Firmino 5. Subs: Wijnaldum 6, Thiago 6, Shaqiri 6.

13 ‘- Wilson makes Phillips look a bit silly with an excellent run that leaves the center back aside. The angle at the end of the race is quite tight for a shot, but Fabinho is still missing to cross and deny the Newcastle striker with one last block.

3. 4 ‘- That’s an excellent stop from Darlow to keep Newcastle level. Henderson’s floating pass over the top is not followed by center-backs and Salah is clean, only for Newcastle’s plug to run off and get a crucial right-fingertip touch to send the shot wide.

81 ‘- Darlow saves on Mane’s shin and the ball spins to seemingly present a touch for the Liverpool forward … only for Schar to step in out of nowhere and clear the line. That’s a great defense.

89 ‘- How did that not come in ?! Darlow makes an impressive save from a Liverpool corner and then quickly recovers to help clear the danger. The save was all the more impressive because he snatched it from the waiting Salah.

This was the first goalless draw between Newcastle and Liverpool since 1974.

Newcastle have not lost at St James’ Park to a reigning Premier League champion in the past four years, winning two and drawing two of those games.

Liverpool scored 77 points in 2020, the most of any time in the Premier League. It’s the third calendar year in a row that Jurgen Klopp’s team has surpassed that particular statistic.