LIVERPOOL:Liverpool treated their fans to some Christmas cheer with a 4-0 thrashing ofNewcastle United at Anfield yesterday, extending their lead at the top of thetable. The win put Liverpool on 51 points at the halfway point in the season,six ahead of Tottenham Hotspur who hammered Bournemouth 5-0, and seven clear ofchampions Manchester City who lost 2-1 at Leicester City.
Returning to theclub he led to the Champions League title in 2005, Newcastle manager RafaelBenitez picked his team with defence in mind, stringing five players across theback. But defender Jamaal Lascelles inadvertently teed Dejan Lovren up for theopening goal, carelessly heading an attempted clearance into the path of theLiverpool centre back, who cracked home a fine half-volley in the 11th minute.
Newcastle managedto hold firm until halftime but within minutes of the restart they were twodown as Mohamed Salah scored his 13th league goal of the season from thepenalty spot following an innocuous foul on him by Paul Dummett.
Liverpool'senormous pressure threatened to give them a third goal at any moment, and itcame when Xherdan Shaqiri stabbed home Trent Alexander-Arnold's low cross fromclose range in the 79th minute. Fabinho made it 4-0 by heading home Salah'scorner.
Liverpool's fansburst into song as news reached the Anfield stands that Manchester City hadlost at Leicester, giving the Merseysiders the Christmas gift they wanted asthey chase a first league title since 1990. "We just focused on ourselvesand it's game by game for us. Every game is a final for us," Lovren said.
"We need tokeep this momentum and after the next couple of games we will see where we are.Every game now matters," he added. With little money available to spend inthe upcoming transfer window, Benitez seemed barely able to conceal hisfrustration at Newcastle's situation. "Obviously, we play against a verygood team but there are two key moments in the game," the Spanish coachsaid.
"The firstgoal we made a mistake, and the second goal (was) a soft penalty that gave themcontrol. For us, it was very difficult to react," he added. Benitez mustlift his side ahead of their visit to Watford on Saturday while Liverpool hostArsenal later on the same day. - Reuters