Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Down but not out
MO SALAH UNCONSCIOUS... BUT LIVERPOOL STILL IN TITLE RACE
SUPER-SUB Divock Origi kept alive Liverpool’s title dream on a dramatic night at St James’ Park.
Liverpool’s bid for a first league trophy in 29 years looked to have been ended when Newcastle star Salomon Rondon fired home a superb 54th-minute equaliser after the Reds had taken a 2-1 lead.
But with time running out, Jurgen Klopp’s gritty Kop stars dug deep once more
SUPERSUB Divock Origi scored a dramatic 86thminute winner to keep Liverpool’s title hopes alive just when their season looked like falling apart.
Origi had replaced Mo Salah 10 minutes earlier, with the Premier League’s top scorer stretchered off after an aerial collision with Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka.
At that stage, Liverpool’s season was on a knife-edge and after events in midweek, fortune had seemingly turned its back on Jurgen Klopp’s side.
But special teams are able to conjure special moments and with Newcastle looking at least as likely to win this thriller, Origi met fellow sub Xherdan Shaqiri’s in-swinging free-kick with his head, the ball flicking off Jamaal Lascelles and into the Toon net.
It was tough on a Newcastle side who’d made a mockery of pre-match talk that Rafa Benitez’s past connections would play into the visitors’ hands.
Instead, the Geordies gave Liverpool one of their stiffest examinations of the season.
It wasn’t quite another 4-3 epic, but this was still a classic between two sides synomynous with some of the Premier League’s most iconic moments.
The action was breathless and, on and off the pitch, the occasion felt grand.
Throughout, neither Newcastle’s players nor their fans were willing to accept a secondary role, but Liverpool can be an irresistible force.
Van Dijk’s goal was brilliantly conceived and expertly executed.
The PFA Footballer of the Year was hovering on the edge of the area when Trent AlexanderArnold swung in his right-wing corner.
There were plenty of black-and-white shirts around him, but, when the ball arrived in the box, three defenders had been fooled by Sadio Mane’s decoy run towards the near post, leaving Van Dijk unmarked to power home a header from five yards out.
Klopp’s celebrations were subdued. Perhaps he knew what was coming.
This was, after all, a Newcastle side who didn’t buckle when they trailed City in January with less than a minute on the clock.
If their defending was shoddy for much of the night, their mental strength was impressive, none more so than in the minutes after that opening goal
They equalised through Christian Atsu’s first goal in 40 games after Andre Marriner played a good advantage. It was Liverpool and not Newcastle, however, who were grateful for the match official allowing play to continue after Salomon Rondon’s shot struck Alexander-Arnold’s elbow as he guarded the goalline.
The ball broke to Atsu who hammered home. All square, with the England right-back avoiding punishment when he could easily have been sent off with Newcastle being awarded a penalty.
Ayoze Perez rattled the bar after a piece of skill which would not have looked out of place in the Nou Camp three days earlier.
Incredibly, moments after that let-off, Liverpool regained the lead thanks to Salah’s 26th
goal of the campaign. Daniel Sturridge fed Alexander-Arnold with a clever back-heel and when his cross came in, Salah found space between two defenders to steer a right foot shot beyond the diving Dubravka.
In the 33rd minute, Mane almost stretched the lead. Taking a return pass from Salah, he had just Dubravka to beat, but the Slovak spread himself well to save.
Newcastle were in no mood to follow a Scouse script and, five minutes after the restart, Rondon forced Alisson into a smart save.
Then Sturridge wasted a glorious chance when he shot wildly over the top after being teed up by ex-Toon star Gini Wijnaldum. Liverpool were made to pay when Ki’s corner was only half-cleared and when Manchillo headed into the path of Rondon, the striker scored.
With Salah stretchered off, Liverpool feared it wouldn’t be their night. That was until Origi popped up with the late winner with the title tussle now going down to the wire.