Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

Liverpool 2 Newcastle 0 – Instant United fan/writer reaction to Saturday’s defeat

6 years ago
Share

Liverpool 2 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 3 March 5.30pm

We asked a number of our regular writers to give us a brief instant reaction after the final whistle.

An expected but nevertheless disappointing defeat.

The only real positive that the team kept their discipline and the score down to minus two on goal difference.

Kevin Christie:

“Panned out exactly as expected. A defeat but not a damaging one. Defence looked well-organised and relatively solid.

“Best thing about today is that Lascelles didn’t see red at the end.

“He’s so vital to our hopes of staying up – especially now that Shelvey has picked up an injury.

“Gayle had a tough day and was on a hiding to nothing but I thought Joselu offered more when he came on.

“Would start with him against Southampton next week….but keep him away from penalties! 😉

“Three points in that are an absolute must! HWTL!”

Paul Patterson:

“Quite relieved to keep it at 0-2 to be honest.

“Next Saturday against Southampton is key.

“We won’t be judged on a defeat at Anfield, but we must start beating the lower teams at home.

“If ever there was a must win, it’s next week.”

Jamie Smith:

“I’m sure there will be some extreme reactions but this was always a bit of a write off.

“The other results were favourable but it’s simple enough – next game is at home to a serious relegation contender in woeful form. We must beat Southampton and use it as the starting point for a run.

“I still have confidence in Rafa and staying up.

“Just a shame there will be plenty of dafties out there who think different.”

Nat Seaton:

“An easy win for Liverpool.

“Didn’t expect anything other than what we got once they had scored.

“It’s so tight at the bottom we need to get those precious 3 points on Saturday before our enforced break.”

Paul Lyon:

“Beaten by a better side, nee disgrace in that.

“Showed glimpses that we might score ourselves towards the end, but didn’t really offer a lot going forward throughout.

“I wasn’t expecting the world from this one, rather hoped…

“On to the next one! Howay the Lads!!!”

Ben Cooper:

“Liverpool are a pretty good team so to give them a game, put in a committed and resilient shift, and make their good players score good goals seems like as much as I could have expected.

“It is disappointing though, that we are so far behind them and the other top teams that all I can find to be positive about is that it we did ok and didn’t get thumped.

“Merino and Joselu are the spit of each other now.

“The only time I could tell them apart was when one of them gave the ball away, then I knew it was Joselu. Next week, massive.”

David Punton:

“The life and times of Newcastle fans at Anfield is littered with disappointment.

“We haven’t won a league game at this ground since 1994, and we leave empty handed today.

“Salah, who is having a brilliant season, and the dangerous Sadio Mané did damage in this latest tale of woe as we saw very little possession and didn’t create too much.

“We were lucky to not concede a penalty at the end.

“The Premier League table continues to look perilous, though nobody expected to win this one, and we are now in real need of putting three points on the board.

“We’re looking for three or four wins from nine games. Gulp!

“Credit to all NUFC fans who made the trek to Anfield today amid some rotten weather, with roads and rail all affected by the severe cold snap.”

George Stainsby:

“You can’t press in a workmanlike way for a full match against a team with a couple of players who only need one chance.

“We did it very well for most of the match, but you still need to take the couple of chances you get.

“Diame’s shot was a cracker, but Gayle stands there looking gutted if he misses. Chase down the rebound instead of looking like someone has filled your slippers with cat sick.

“This was never on the list of matches we would expect to win.

“We can take something positive in the pressing for most of it, and move on. Southampton and Huddersfield are must win?”

Toon Bano:

“Expected result from an expected performance.

“Kept the goal difference down which could turn out to be key after the 38 games have been played.

“Won’t lose any sleep over this.”

Jamie Swan:

“Can’t say that this result was a surprise. Can’t really say this performance was either.

“If before the game we had to write down on the back of a fag packet what we thought would happen, then I bet a load of folk would have had their biro scribbling a similar script to what unfolded.

“LFC like Man City have been destroying teams and are in tremendous form.

“Despite that, disappointingly it was a very flat event as far as NUFC turning up as an attacking force and meant Liverpool didn’t really need to get out of second gear to win the game.

“Bit of a non-event and a bloody hard one for the away end with frozen brass monkeys rolling more dangerously towards goal than us.

“Was at times a keep-ball training session for the reds with us retreating back into defensive drill mode even at two nowt down.  Still a gut-sapping run around for the lads and that side of the game without the ball made Merino look well off the boil.

“Liverpool are no doubt a very good team, shame we didn’t in truth make them have to show it.

“But let’s remember our entire starting eleven cost less than Van Dijk’s jock strap, proper Mike Ashley induced mismatch.

“Christ, I wouldn’t mind having Salah, Mane and Firmino in our squad – if they could get in the team ha ha!

“Word of mention to Dummett who I thought was by far the best out of our mob tonight. Well played.

“Only rum and kebabs can save my night.”

Stats from BBC Sport:

Liverpool 2 Newcastle 0

Goals:

Liverpool: Salah 40, Sane 55

Possession was Liverpool 71% Newcastle 29%

Total shots were  Liverpool 14 Newcastle 7

Shots on target were Liverpool 3 Newcastle 2

Corners were  Liverpool 8 Newcastle 3

Referee: Graham Scott

Newcastle United:

Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Dummett, Murphy (Perez 84), Diame, Merino (Hayden 73), Kenedy, Atsu, Gayle (Joselu 66)

Unused Subs:

Darlow, Manquillo, Clark, Ritchie

Crowd: 53,287 (Newcastle 3,000)

(To read the match ratings for Newcastle players at Anfield go HERE )

(To read Alan Shearer’s instant reaction to the game HERE)

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks