Newcastle's Schär and Darlow deny Mané and Salah in Liverpool stalemate
The final Premier League match of 2020 ended with Liverpool three points clear at the top of the table but only after
Jürgen Klopp’s defending champions were made to look distinctly mortal by a wounded Newcastle side determined to prove a point.
After a barrage of recent criticism Steve Bruce had said he wanted to shut a few people up. On the eve of his 60th birthday, the home manager’s wish was granted thanks to a creditable draw which will doubtless have gone down well with his old friends at secondplaced Manchester United.
Securing it necessitated some heroics from Newcastle’s vastly improved goalkeeper Karl Darlow while Liverpool dominated possession and Mohamed Salah missed a couple of chances that, nine times out of 10, he would have expected to convert but Bruce’s team also had their moments.
It was easy to forget the fallout from a Covid-19 outbreak that saw 19 New
castle players and back-room staff test positive for the virus has left arguably their best player, Allan Saint-Maximin, and the captain, Jamaal Lascelles, still sidelined by fatigue.
Saint-Maximin is convalescing in France but, were he watching on television, the winger would surely have enjoyed Newcastle’s unusually positive performance. Bruce has been criticised – heavily – for negative tactics but, although he opted for a back five and they certainly did their fair share of defending, his gameplan proved unexpectedly adventurous.
Perhaps hoping to expose the inexperience of the centre-half Nathaniel Phillips, Newcastle pressed high up the pitch and Allison swiftly looked relieved to see Callum Wilson head narrowly wide after meeting Jacob Murphy’s free-kick.
Wilson was soon at it again, this time sashaying past Phillips and seeming set to score until Fabinho retrieved the situation, contributing a tremendous block that deflected the striker’s shot over the bar.
Liverpool waited until Wednesday lunchtime before flying to Tyneside and they started as if behind schedule. It was 16 minutes before they mustered a shot on target, a gentle effort from James Milner that sailed straight into Darlow’s arms.
If the tempo was nothing like as intense as expected and some of Liverpool’s initial passing went a little awry, Bruce could not remotely afford to relax.
The Merseysiders might have begun in strangely dozy mode but they still offered little reminders of the adage about form being temporary but class permanent.
A wonderful cameo involving Trent Alexander-Arnold bisecting Newcastle’s defence and picking out Sadio
Mané with the most incisive of crossfield passes proved a case in point.
For a moment it looked as if Darlow could be under severe threat but despite Salah and Milner working the ball back to Alexander-Arnold the rightback could not quite polish off the move on the volley.
Newcastle generally secondguessed Liverpool’s manoeuvres pretty well, closing players down assiduously but, as half-time beckoned, the champions began asserting themselves on the break.
A typically intelligent counterattack concluded with Darlow extending a hand and, quite brilliantly, diverting Salah’s sidefooted shot wide after he connected with Jordan Henderson’s cross.
Back on the Newcastle bench for the first time after missing the first part of this season with injury, Martin Dubravka seems destined to face a struggle to reclaim his place as first-choice keeper.
After being slightly the superior side for much of the first 45 minutes, Newcastle were beginning to sense the power balance gradually tilting in Liverpool’s direction.
It took DeAndre Yedlin to slide in with an important interception to deny Salah another clear shot on goal and a second stunning save from Darlow to keep Roberto Firmino’s header out following Mané’s volleyed cross.
The second half had Liverpool increasing their growing possession quotient and the increasingly influential Mané directing a header fractionally off target but, still, Newcastle defended robustly.
If Klopp had reason for mild optimism it will have been slightly tempered by the need for Fabinho to watch his step after the central defender was booked for a shameless body check on Yedlin as the right wing-back accelerated forward with menace.
Even so, Salah should have scored after being smartly put through by Firmino but instead dragged a left-foot shot tantalisingly wide while Firmino might have done better with a headed chance.
Klopp brought on Georginio Wijnaldum and Thiago Alcântara but although the latter dazzled, Newcastle remained as obdurate as ever with Federico Fernández’s superb tackle to dispossess Salah and Fabian Schär’s last gasp clearance off the line from Mané emblematic of their dogged resistance.
Had Alisson not clawed Ciaran Clark’s header to safety, Newcastle might conceivably have stolen a win but a point was sufficient for Bruce to silence the doubters at least temporarily.