Reds enjoy St James' romp

Leaders dazzle on Tyneside after woeful defending by Magpies

Last updated: 28th December 2008

Reds enjoy St James' romp

Gerrard: Celebrates opener

Man of the match: Steven Gerrard ran the Liverpool show in midfield and scored two superb goals in a virtuoso performance as his side claimed an emphatic 5-1 win.
Moment of the match: Liverpool further underlined their potential to win the Premier League when Steven Gerrard latched on to Lucas' defence-splitting through pass before delightfully chipping the ball over Given for Liverpool's fourth goal.
Attempt of the Match: Newcastle can be awarded this accolade for Geremi's audacious free-kick from close to the halfway line, which so nearly caught Jose Reina off his line before the goalkeeper hurried back to make the save.
Save of the Match: Shay Given made plenty of stunning reflex saves throughout the contest but the best was his one-handed diving stop from a Lucas header after 21 minutes.
Talking point: Whereas Liverpool were outstanding, Newcastle were quite dreadful and their woeful defending for Ryan Babel's goal highlighted how they are in grave danger of relegation unless performances improve.
Goal of the game: Steven Gerrard's opening goal saw him crash home a fierce shot from inside the box which capped off a sublime team move to rip the Magpies to shreds.

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Liverpool will head into 2009 on top of the Premier League table after an emphatic 5-1 victory over hapless Newcastle United at St James' Park.

Spirits on Tyneside had been lifted by owner Mike Ashley's pre-game announcement that the club are no longer for sale, but that buoyancy quickly evaporated as Liverpool should have put the game out of sight by half-time.

Poor finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Shay Given kept the scores level until the 31st minute when Steven Gerrard crashed his shot in off the post following a neat move involving Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun.

Just five minutes later Sami Hyypia, who had already gone close twice, rose above Fabricio Coloccini to head home a Gerrard corner.

Newcastle gave themselves hope for the second half when David Edgar headed home a corner at the near post in injury-time.

However, the hosts' gameplan was in disarray again five minutes after the interval when Ryan Babel poked home from close range after a string of defenders failed to clear a corner.

Gerrard grabbed his second of the game on 66 minutes when he darted on to a superb through ball from Lucas before clipping a delicate shot over Given and the rout was complete on 77 minutes when Xabi Alonso tucked away a penalty after substitute David N'Gog had been tripped by Edgar.

Torn apart

The Magpies were torn apart by the visitors in a breathtaking first 45 minutes which demonstrated once again just how important Given is to the club.

The Irishman was one of three Magpies, along with Steven Taylor and Charles N'Zogbia, to be linked with a January move to Arsenal by one newspaper this morning, but had it not been for him, his side could have conceded at least eight by the time they headed back into the dressing room.

In the space of four minutes, he parried Dirk Kuyt's drive at the near post, blocked Gerrard's flick and then pulled off a stunning one-handed save to deny the Reds skipper.

But his work was not done and he had twice thwarted Lucas by the time the clock ticked around to the 20-minute mark before keeping out Hyypia's 42nd-minute header with the help of N'Zogbia on the line.

However, by that point, he had been beaten twice as the rampant visitors finally made the pressure tell, Gerrard sweeping the ball home from Benayoun's 31st-minute cut-back before Hyypia headed home his captain's corner five minutes later.

Liverpool were simply irresistible, and a rout seemed on the cards.

Rallied

But the Magpies rallied and after Taylor had headed a Danny Guthrie corner wide, Edgar proved the man for the big occasion once again.

Just short of two years ago, the Canadian marked his home debut with a stunning equaliser against Manchester United, and when he headed another Guthrie set-piece home in injury-time his side at least had hope.

Half-time substitute Shola Ameobi almost made an immediate impact when Michael Owen only just failed to meet his 48th-minute cross with a diving header, but Liverpool's advantage was restored within two minutes.

Referee Mark Halsey was simply not interested in the home side's appeals for handball after Hyypia and then Lucas had helped on Gerrard's corner, and Babel stabbed the loose ball home to make it 3-1.

Joe Kinnear's resources were stretched further with 56 minutes gone when Nicky Butt limped off to be replaced by Geremi, although the Cameroon international almost dragged his side back into the game on the hour.

After Owen had been cynically tripped by Mascherano, Geremi drove the resulting free-kick against the bar with goalkeeper Jose Reina beaten.

But if the game was not already over, the result was put beyond doubt with 24 minutes remaining when Gerrard ran on to Lucas' pass and lifted the ball nonchalantly over Given to make it 4-1.

Alonso made it five from the penalty spot after Edgar had tripped Ngog with 77 minutes gone, and although Guthrie and Taylor both went close, Given had to make a superb double stop to deny Lucas and then Babel at the death.

Newcastle UnitedTeam StatisticsLiverpool
1Goals5
11st Half Goals2
6Shots on Target13
3Shots off Target9
3Blocked Shots3
4Corners9
7Fouls11
3Offsides5
2Yellow Cards1
0Red Cards0
77.1Passing Success87.3
18Tackles20
61.1Tackles Success65
40.6Possession59.4
51.5Territorial Advantage48.5

Comments (7)

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Steve Evans (Liverpool fan) says...

Cmon you Reds! Time to chase us in the New Year Chelsea!

Posted 17:20 28th December 2008

Richard Mc laughlin (Liverpool fan) says...

Top of the league come the new year! what more can a liverpool fan ask of good old st. nick and without the addition of fernando torres who is only going to get better and better in time. This is the best chance us boys have the season and to be honest I cant see another team beating us for the rest of the season with the exclusion of the top four if they get lucky that is. All I can say is i've been a loyal liverpool fan all my life and have took the stick for what has been years but now finally i am actually extremely enjoying watching liverpool play whereas the past few seasons we were getting wins but our passing was always a bit edgy but now its like watching arsenal play (well last season anyway lol . .) come on you reds!! Champions 08/09

Posted 16:41 28th December 2008

Paul Nash (Liverpool fan) says...

Our best performance by far this season, although we were as good as the Geordies were bad. With El Nino still to come back things are looking good for us, btw great result for Fulham, and with Arsenal self destructing, it looks like it's like a showdown between us and the mancs.

Posted 16:05 28th December 2008

"mak" Daman (Liverpool fan) says...

Breathtaking display by our boys today, as bad as Newcastle were today, Liverpool were brilliant!

Posted 15:57 28th December 2008

Leigh Cookson (Liverpool fan) says...

An absolutely fantastic performance by everyone in a red shirt. Gerrard again was immense, Lucas had probably his best game in a Liverpool shirt and Insua again had a very very good game. At the beginning of the season, everyone was saying Aston Villa, Everton, Spurs or even Newcastle will replace Liverpool in the top four! 20 games played, Liverpool are top and deservedly so. Let's hope we can stay there and win our first league title since 1990. Newcastle today were outplayed by the far superior team. Kinnear has done a good job and i believe they will still stay up. Ashley taking the club off the market may be a good idea, but he needs to give Kinenar some spending money in January. Owen leaving at the end of the season? It's a given....speaking of Given, he once again proved he is in the top 3 keepers in the country, behind Reina of course. Get in Liverpool!!!! We are top of the league la la la la

Posted 15:50 28th December 2008

Bryan Paul (Liverpool fan) says...

It's quite clear that Shay Given greatly deserves to play for a much bigger club at the moment. He's been oustanding for Newcastle for years and it's about time he moved on to greener pastures.

Posted 15:46 28th December 2008

Mohamed Tawfik (Liverpool fan) says...

I think this was one of the most entertaining games of the season... and it could've been any thing from 4-1 up tp 10-1... for a goalkeeper to get man of the match award, and end up woth 5 goals in his net... that is something...

Posted 15:30 28th December 2008
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