Liverpool claimed a comfortable 4-1 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday night.
Hugo Ekitike was presented with the game’s first chance in the 17th minute, but the Frenchman’s effort from outside the area was comfortably collected by Nick Pope.
In the 26th minute, Harvey Barnes almost broke the deadlock, but his strike from Lewis Hall’s free-kick struck the woodwork.
At the other end, Ryan Gravenberch played Ekitike through on goal, but the Frenchman’s chipped effort was beaten away by Pope.
In the 36th minute, Anthony Gordon gave the Magpies the lead after the ball rolled to his path and the Englishman finished through the legs of Milos Kerkez into the bottom corner.
Six minutes later, Ekitike restored parity after he was found by Florian Wirtz, and the centre-forward finished past Pope.
The Frenchman doubled his tally and gave Liverpool the lead in the 43rd minute when he released on the break, and he made his way into the area before picking out the bottom-right corner.
On the stroke of full-time, Ekitike almost completed his hat-trick, but his header from a corner went just over the bar.
Shortly after the restart, the Reds could’ve increased the deficit on two occasions. First, Dominic Szoboszlai’s effort was gathered by Pope. Then, Ekitike capitalised on Dan Burn’s mistake from a long ball over the top, but the striker dragged his effort well wide of the left post.
In the 56th minute, Anthony Elanga tried to catch Alisson Becker with his effort after a brilliant Newcastle move, but the Liverpool shot-stopper was equal to the task.
Moments later, the Brazilian goalkeeper was called into action again when Malick Thiaw found Barnes with a header, and Alisson parried away the winger’s effort.
In the 67th minute, Wirtz got Liverpool’s third goal after Mohamed Salah played him through on goal and the German found the bottom left corner.
At the other end, Gordon was found with a lofted ball from Thiaw, but the Englishman dragged his effort wide of the left post.
Deep into stoppage time, Ibrahima Konate completed the scoring for the Reds after Pope parried a corner to his path, and the defender fired home the fourth to seal the victory for Liverpool.
Liverpool have recorded their first Premier League victory of 2026 and are now up to fifth on the PL standings.