Hard-fought win over Newcastle, Liverpool temporarily takes top spot

However, now coach Juergen Klopp and his team do not have the right to decide even if they win the remaining matches. The dream of winning the Premier League of the "Red Brigade" will only come when Man City stumbles in one of the next two matches. Because at this time, the defending champion is ranked above The Cop by exactly 1 point, and can completely successfully defend the throne if they win before the remaining 2 rounds, despite all the efforts of Liverpool.

Van Dijk opened the scoring for Liverpool against Newcastle. Photo: Reuters

Newcastle, although not having much motivation as they are assured of staying in the league, have still played impressively recently. They have earned 7/9 maximum points in the last 3 rounds.

Determined to win 3 points, Liverpool proactively pushed up their formation right after the opening whistle. However, the away team encountered a very annoying counter-attacking style of play from the home team.

In the first 10 minutes of the match, Klopp and his team were unable to launch any shots towards Newcastle's goal. The attacking trio of Mane, Salah and Sturridge could not find a connection against the persistent and fierce play of the home team's defense.

The deadlock was broken in the 13th minute, when Liverpool took the lead after Alexander-Arnold's corner kick was met by an unmarked Van Dijk who headed the ball home.

After conceding the goal, Newcastle pushed up their formation to find an equalizer. Just 9 minutes after conceding the goal, they got an equalizer. In the 20th minute, from a cross from the side into the penalty area, Liverpool's defense made a mistake, allowing Ritchie to shoot the ball right to Rondon's position. Van Dijk used his hand to block the number 9's shot, but Astu's follow-up shot left Alisson helpless.

Rondon scored the equalizer for Newcastle. Photo: Reuters

In the 28th minute, Alexander-Arnold crossed for Salah to finish from close range, raising the score to 2-1 for the away team. Alexander-Arnold is playing very impressively, assisting in both goals that the "Red Brigade" has achieved.

Newcastle's forced push up the pitch gave Liverpool more space. In the 32nd minute, Mane had a chance to make it 3-1, but was unable to beat goalkeeper Dubravka in a one-on-one situation.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Liverpool's proactive slowing of the game prevented the two teams from having any more clear opportunities.

At the end of the first 45 minutes, Liverpool temporarily led Newcastle with a score of 2-1.

After the break, with great determination, Newcastle scored an equalizer. In the 54th minute, from a corner kick, Mane missed the ball and Rondon unleashed a dangerous shot that left Alisson standing and watching.

After more than 50 minutes of play, Liverpool took the lead twice but both times the home team scored an equalizer.

To let the opponent equalize, Liverpool put all their efforts into finding another goal. In the 63rd minute, Robertson had a difficult cross but Henderson missed the shot, which was extremely regrettable. Coach Klopp was forced to make a change in attack, Wijnaldum was the one who had to give way to Shaqiri.

Origi scored a golden goal to help Liverpool rekindle hope in the championship race with Man City. Photo: Reuters

While being held to a 2-2 draw by their opponents, Liverpool also suffered a major loss when superstar Salah suffered a serious injury and had to leave the field in the 72nd minute. Origi was brought in as a replacement.

In the final minutes of the match, Liverpool put all their efforts into finding a goal.

In the 84th minute, Origi made a difficult cross from the sideline into the middle but Lascelles continued to play excellently, otherwise Sturridge would have been able to approach the ball at close range.

2 minutes later, from a free kick, Shaqiri hung the ball in the middle, Origi jumped high to head the ball, the ball continued to graze Lascelles' head and sent the ball into his own net, the goal was counted for Belgian player Origi. The score was 2 - 3 for Liverpool.

At the end of 90 minutes at Newcastle's St James Park, Liverpool struggled to maintain their 3-2 victory over Newcastle to temporarily take the top spot from Man City before the defending champions face Leicester City in the penultimate round of this year's Premier League.

Score:

Newcastle:Astu (20'); Rondon (54')

Liverpool:Van Dijk (13'); M. Salah (28') Origi (86')

Line-up

Newcastle:12 M. Dubravka, 5 F. Schar, 6 J. Lascelles, 3 P. Dummett, 19 Javi Manquillo, 4 Ki Sung-Yeung. 11 M. Ritchie, 30 C. Atsu, 14 I. Hayden, 9 S. Rondon, 17 Ayoze Perez

Liverpool:13 Alisson, 6 D. Lovren, 4 V. van Dijk, 26 A. Robertson, 66 T. Alexander-Arnold, 5 G. Wijnaldum, 14 J. Henderson, 3 Fabinho, 15 D. Sturridge, 11 Mohamed Salah, 10 S. Mane

Results of some other matches

Everton 2 - 0 Burley

Bournemouth 1 - 0 Tottenham

West Ham 3 - 0 Southampton

Wolves 1 - 0 Fulham

Cardiff 2 - 3 Crystal Palace