Newcastle United fell to a 4-1 defeat at Premier League rivals Liverpool on Saturday night.
Newcastle United’s long wait for a Premier League win at Anfield was extended on Saturday night as Liverpool came from a goal down to secure a comfortable win.
The Magpies have not claimed all three points from a visit to the red half of Merseyside since Rob Lee and Andy Cole scored in a 2-0 victory in April 1994. However, hopes over a more positive result were raised on Saturday when Anthony Gordon’s fine finish put Eddie Howe’s side in front with 35 minutes on the clock.
A familiar face came back to haunt Newcastle as former transfer target Hugo Ekitike scored twice inside three minutes to turn the game on its head by the time the half-time whistle had been blown. Florian Wirtz stretched the hosts lead to two midway through the second half and any doubt over the result was ended by Ibrahima Konate who punished an error from Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to grab the Reds fourth goal of the night deep in second-half injury-time.
There were positive aspects to Newcastle’s performance but the result and the manner of the goals conceded will have stung the Magpies as their poor seasonal record against the Premier League champions was extended by a comprehensive defeat at Anfield. The fact Ekitike was one of the masters of their downfall will have only increased the frustration after the Magpies failed in three previous attempts to land the former PSG and Eintracht Frankfurt forward prior to his summer move to Liverpool.
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For United legend Alan Shearer, seeing Ekitike score twice after rejecting Newcastle ‘hurt’ as he assessed Eddie Howe’s decision to leave three of his attacking options on the bench in favour of selecting goalscorer Gordon to lead his forward line.
What did Alan Shearer say about Liverpool v Newcastle United?
Alan Shearer.placeholder image
Alan Shearer. | Getty Images
He told The Rest is Football podcast: "I thought the game plan worked really well for about 35 or 40 minutes because we looked dangerous on the counterattack. Liverpool, I thought, looked poor defensively as they have done for a while and Newcastle punished them for that ultimately with a very, very good goal from Anthony Gordon, his first in nearly 13 months in open play for Newcastle.
“And then after that, I mean the brilliance of Ekitike and (Florian) Wirtz, I thought, particularly Ekitike, I mean, it hurts even more because Newcastle were in for him obviously, as you know in the summer but he chose to go to Liverpool, which I get, and that's fine, but he was the difference. I was thinking, okay, second half we can go at them again, but they never really got going in the second half, and the best team won. Liverpool were the best team by a mile
“And I think I don't know, it sort of sums up where Newcastle are that the manager chooses to leave three forwards basically on the bench. He left Wissa on the bench, left Woltemade on the bench. Osula was on the bench. I don't know, what's that 135-140 million quids worth of talent? And you go into it with a guy who hasn't scored for nearly 13 months in open play, sort of tells you where Newcastle are with their forwards at the minute."
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