Toon hold Liverpool despite Coutinho strike
Burnley win piles pressure on Everton boss
New Zealand’s All Blacks celebrate after winning the 2017 edition of the Rugby Championship by defeating Argentina’s Los Pumas 36-16 at the Jose
Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on Sept 30, 2017. (AFP)
NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom, Oct 1, (AFP): A remarkable goal from Philippe Coutinho secured a 1-1 draw for Liverpool at Newcastle United on Sunday, but it was another hugely frustrating match for their manager, Jurgen Klopp.
On a day when victory would have lifted them above reigning champions Chelsea and into the top four in the Premier League, Liverpool struggled yet again to turn their superiority into goals. to be critical of the Liverpool defence as a goal went past Belgium international Mignolet.
Liverpool’s problems in the final third of the pitch were perfectly illustrated in the 50th minute when Ciaran Clark’s miskick left Sturridge one-on-one with keeper Rob Elliot.
Sturridge, a prolific scorer against Newcastle in his career, shot too close to the keeper on this occasion and Salah hurriedly wasted an equally good opportunity when the ball ricocheted to him.
Similar clear-cut opportunities were non-existent in the remainder of the match, although Liverpool’s substitutes Dominic Solanke and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did head wide from difficult opportunities in the closing stages.
One interested observer as the game ended with Newcastle’s Mohamed Diame steering a weak shot straight at Mignolet was Amanda Staveley, a 44-year-old financier originally from North Yorkshire who has an estimated £28 billion ($37 billion, 32 billion euros) under her management.
It is believed Staveley, who was involved in Abu Dhabi-Based Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City, is interested in buying another Premier League club on behalf of a Middle East-based investment group, who would likely have to pay at least £300m to persuade owner Mike Ashley to sell Newcastle.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman was set for an uncomfortable international break after Jeff Hendrick’s goal gave visitors Burnley a 1-0 win in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Defeat left the big-spending Toffees, who have won just twice in seven league matches so far this season, a mere two points above the relegation zone.
The Dutch great’s side came into this match on the back of a disappointing 2-2 Europa League draw at home to Cypriot club Apollon Limassol on Thursday.
That result halted something of a mini-revival after Everton had won back-to-back matches against Sunderland in the League Cup and Bournemouth in the Premier League after losing four in a row in a six-game winless streak.
Prior to Sunday’s match, Koeman said: “It’s not time to find any more excuses, because that’s not counting for you. With a win, everyone will be happy and maybe ‘Everton are back’, that will be the newspaper on Monday.
“If we don’t win, the newspaper will be totally different. But that’s football and I accept that way of thinking.”
But after the match, Koeman told Sky Sports: “I’m not unhappy what I saw from the team, they showed today how we had to play.
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