Newcastle 1, Liverpool 3 (D,Post)
Mar 20 2006
OT:David MoyesOn Wed, 15 Mar 2006 07:55:11 GMT, Just a Liverpudlian wrote in alt.sports.soccer.everton: Thst wasn't his "logical conclusion...
By Paul Chapple at St James' Park
THIS Liverpool performance had Rafael Benitez stamped all over it - a fluid 'team' effort. The three goals could have been more, but after the five-goal showing at Anfield last Wednesday, the goalscoring woes of just a week ago seem a distant memory.
Even Djibril Cisse, without a goal in 2006, notched from the spot to make it five goals from the strikers in the past week.
In all honesty it was a game Liverpool never looked like losing.
Yes, they played much of the second half against 10 men after Jean Alain Boumsong was sent off for man-handling Peter Crouch in the box. And yes, Newcastle were poor, but make no mistake this was one of the best Liverpool performances of the season, a real tonic for the final push for second spot and FA Cup glory.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez sprang a real surprise before kick-off when he opted for Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Sami Hyypia in a back three with Jan Kromkamp and Stephen Warnock supporting ahead of them on the flanks.
It was the first time the three big centre-backs had started together as a defensive trio and boy did it work.
The three worked well as a unit with the strength of Hyypia, the organisational skills of Carragher and the more cultured style of Agger proving a good blend. Alan Shearer and Shola Ameobi barely got a look in and the home side only looked slightly more dangerous when Kieron Dyer was introduced as a late substitute for Ameobi.
That it was almost impossible to identify the exact formation of the Liverpool side said it all.
Harry Kewell was playing in a free role, Cisse was playing alongside Crouch but would then pop up on the right and Warnock and Kromkamp were playing as energy sapping wing-backs.
The system clicked slickly into place right from the off. Agger's long ball set Warnock away inside 60 seconds.
The wing-back got to the byline but then crossed just too deep for Cisse or Crouch to be able to capitalise.
With Warnock looking a good early attacking option down the left, Liverpool created the first chance when from Warnock's pinpoint left-wing cross Crouch rose above Robbie Elliott but headed wide of Shay Given's left-hand post. But Liverpool deservedly went ahead in the 10th minute when, following fluid build up play, Kromkamp crossed expertly to the back post where Crouch confidently headed down and beyond Given.
There was a real verve to Liverpool's play and Cisse soon had a chance to double the advantage but he blazed high and wide after Kewell had this time out-paced Peter Ramage down the left.
Liverpool's new found formation was working well, indeed the home side didn't threaten Pepe Reina's goal until midway through the first period when Shearer's drive curled just wide of the upright.
The home side then enjoyed their best spell of the game and were beginning to test the new combination at the back. Reina almost spilled Charles N'Zogbia's awkward 20-yard strike into the path of Ameobi. The big Spaniard recovered just in time to collect.
Ironically in the brief spell when the Toon were on top it was Benitez's men who added to their tally. In the 35th minute captain Steve Gerrard doubled Liverpool's lead with a goal of real quality.
Agger advanced, 'Alan Hansen-like', half the length of the pitch and played a good ball out to Cisse on the right. The Frenchman crossed to the far post where Gerrard cushioned a header down to himself, played a neat one-two with Crouch and then drilled the ball beyond Given.
Newcastle gave themselves a lifeline four minutes before the break. Scott Parker's cross cleared a static defence and Ameobi beat the offside trap to lob his header over Reina.
Replays confirmed Shearer had strayed offside, but with the offside rule about as clear as the black Tyneside sky, the goal stood as the former England star was adjudged to have not been interfering with play.
Boumsong should have levelled before the interval when more sloppy defending gifted him a free header but fortunately he failed to connect properly and the chance was wasted.
Liverpool started the second half just as they had the first. The expected offensive barrage from the home side, cheered on by another huge crowd, never materialized. The three points were wrapped up on 52 minutes when an awful miskick by Boumsong let in Crouch who was then pulled back by the Frenchman.
Crouch went down in the box for a blatant penalty and Boumsong was rather harshly shown a red card - much to his obvious disbelief. Cisse stepped up to calmly send Given the wrong way for 3-1.
Cisse's celebration - he raised his shirt to reveal a message of love to his family - earned him a yellow card.
The game was threatening to boil over and Lee Bowyer swiftly followed Cisse into Mike Riley's book after squaring up to Didi Hamann.
The previously quiet home fans were rattled as Liverpool had once again grasped control. The volume levels were turned up a notch or two but Liverpool were simply too good for Glenn Roeder's side who themselves had been on a decent run since the departure of Graeme Souness.
Luis Garcia, on as a substitute for Crouch, should have bagged a fourth with 22 minutes remaining. Gerrard fed the Spaniard in on goal but he dragged his right-foot drive well wide.
Another substitute, Xabi Alonso, forced Given into a world-clbutt save with a stunning strike, then Kromkamp's superlative volley was again magnificently turned away by the Newcastle stopper.
It is often the case in football that playing against 10 men can sometimes be more difficult than playing 11, but with Liverpool already in the lead they made the extra man count and stroked the ball around cohesively.
The team performed well throughout with Gerrard and Hamann, playing against his former club, always in control of midfield. The two wing-backs both did admiral jobs and the system is certainly worth having another look at.
A week is a long time in football. This time last week Benitez's strikers were being berated for their lack of goals. Now Robbie Fowler, Fernando Morientes, Cisse and Crouch have all hit the back of the net in the last two games and Liverpool once again have an eye on second spot.
This week is another big one for Benitez's boys. Tomorrow night they play Birmingham City for a place in the FA Cup semi-final, then at the weekend it's a small matter of the derby game at Anfield.
NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Given, Ramage, Boumsong, Elliott, Babayaro, Solano, Emre (Clark 90), Parker, N'Zogbia (Bowyer 27), Ameobi (Dyer 62), Shearer. Subs: Harper, Moore. BOOKINGS: Ramage, Bowyer. SENDING-OFF: Boumsong.
LIVERPOOL: (3-4-1-2): Reina, Kromkamp, Hyypia (Fowler 90), Carragher, Agger, Warnock, Gerrard (Alonso 74), Hamann, Kewell, Cisse, Crouch (Garcia 63). Subs: Dudek, Traore. BOOKINGS: Cisse, Agger, Carragher.
REFEREE: Mike Riley.
ATT: 52,302.
NEXT GAME: Birmingham City v Liverpool, FA Cup sixth round, tomorrow 7.45pm.
