The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-01)

2 May 1, 2022The Sunday Times

Football Premier League

The performance

of Keïta was so fine,

such a delight to

the eye, that it

could have been

crafted by Fabergé

The thing for Mike Dean, as the

match VAR, to consider was: did

James Milner win the ball first

before colliding with Fabian Schar,

and he clearly does?

There is a coming together

of the players afterwards as a

consequence of the challenge,

but it is not a foul, so the referee,

Andre Marriner, was quite correct

to give the goal.

PETER WALTON: MARRINER MADE

RIGHT CALL ON MILNER TACKLE

The Guinean was all soft feet,

delayed passes, cute angles and drib-

bles through tight spaces. He received

a diagonal pass from Jordan Hender-

son and worked a delicate one-two

with Jota to get inside Newcastle’s

box. As defenders closed, he held pos-

session, taking the ball across Martin

Dubravka and wrong-footing the

opposition before passing it home,

undeterred by Emil Krafth and Dan

Burn back on the line.

St James’ Park broiled with fury.

Henderson had continued playing

while Schär was down, after the chal-

lenge with Milner. Liverpool’s veteran

had reached the ball first, getting the

tip of his right boot to it, with Schär

arriving second and kicking Milner’s

studs. VAR upheld Marriner’s call and

Howe had no problem with it.

You wondered about the wisdom

of Klopp rotating when, to herald

kick-off, fans on the Leazes End

unfurled a flag as big as one third of

the pitch, and the stadium swelled

with noise.

Newcastle, however, could not take

inspiration from it and their play was

too safe, too passive. They were domi-

nated in midfield and wide areas,

where Klopp’s full backs, Joe Gomez

and Andrew Robertson, forced

Joelinton and Miguel Almirón back.

Playing in the No 9 and No 10

positions, Saint-Maximin and Joe

Willock could barely get on the ball

and when he did find an opening,

Saint-Maximin’s radar was off — an

example was his scuffed first-half shot

after cutting inside into space on the

edge of the area.

The parade of missed Liverpool

chances began early. Keïta shot close

and Van Dijk thrashed a volley high

and wide at a corner, then Krafth

made an excellent clearance when

Gomez centred after being released

by a beautifully timed Luis Díaz pass.

I

n an interview to celebrate

extending his contract until 2026,

Jürgen Klopp sang a rendition of I

Feel Fine. But he did not seem so

fine for much of this match. There

were Basil Fawlty contortions as

his players spurned chances and

eruptions at the officials. In the

last moments of stoppage time Klopp

was still screaming — screaming at an

injured Diogo Jota to hobble back and

help to defend a Newcastle United goal

kick.

At full-time, however, Klopp was

giving out bone-crushing hugs,

twirling a fist and bearing luminous

teeth in that famous victory grin.

Liverpool had been fantastic right up

to the final moment of execution,

making life unnecessarily stressful for

their manager. But they got there. For

a few hours, at least, they jumped

back above Manchester City in this

riveting title race.

Big managers make big calls, and

Klopp’s was to rest Mohamed Salah,

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and

Thiago Alcântara. He wanted fresh

legs, expecting fervour from

Newcastle’s players. That did not

materialise. By Eddie Howe’s admis-

sion, the home performance was

“workmanlike and lacking in the

quality needed to win the game”.

But the players Klopp drafted in

were still terrific, not least the ageless

James Milner and the scorer Naby

Keïta, whose performance was so fine

and such a delight to the eye that it

could have been crafted by Fabergé.

Newcastle protested after Keïta’s

19th-minute goal, angered by Andre

Marriner’s failure to penalise Milner

for a challenge that left Fabian Schär

with an injured ankle. “One-nil to the

referee,” the home supporters sang at

the end, which would have been fair

enough but for Liverpool’s 66 per cent

possession, 23 shots and 18 efforts on

goal from inside the box, compared

with zero from Newcastle, whose

expected goals figure was their lowest

of the season.

That, and the fact that replays

showed Marriner got his call right. If

anything, Schär fouled Milner.

Perhaps Liverpool’s profligacy was

the downside of the remarkable calm-

ness with which they performed in

this roaring arena, in such a high-

stakes game. In the heat of this title

battle, both they and City seem so

cool, following their processes, work-

ing their patterns and playing their

football, no matter the challenge.

Here, we had Virgil van Dijk drib-

bling through the press on the edge of

his box, Alisson rushing way out of his

area to unflappably mop up, despite

severe pressure from Allan Saint-Max-

imin. And we had Keïta, with such ice

in his blood, converting.

ICE-COOL KEITA KEEPS

Star man Naby Keïta (Liverpool)

Substitutes: Newcastle Lascelles (for Schar

61min, 5), Wood (for Willock 67, 5), Murphy (for

Krafth 85). Liverpool Fabinho (for Henderson 69,

5), Salah (for Mané 69, 6), Thiago (for Milner 78).

Referee A Marriner.

Attendance 52,281.

Alisson

7

Van Dijk

7

Gomez

7

Robertson

8

Mané

5

Díaz

7

Matip

6

Henderson

8

Milner

7

Keita

9

Jota

7

4-3-3

Dubrakva

8

Schar

6

Tar g e t t

7

Krafth

6

Willock

5

Saint-Maximin

5

Almirón

5

Joelinton

5

Burn

7

Shelvey

5

Guimaraes

6

4-2-1-3

JONATHAN

NORTHCROFT

Football Correspondent

at St James’ Park

Then, midway through the first

half, after a counterattack exemplary

for its speed and precision, Díaz

marred things with a casually under-

hit pass to Sadio Mané, and Mané’s

side-footed shot also lacked intent,

being dealt with easily by Dubrakva.

Klopp put his head in his hands and

looked angst-ridden again when

Dubrakva denied Jota with a brilliant

fingertip save and Milner smashed a

shot wide from the resulting corner.

Newcastle took only one real effort in

anger — in the 86th minute, when

Bruno Guimarães shot firmly from 18

yards out, but Alisson saved. In the

first half Almirón “scored” after going

through, but was offside.

Chris Wood was also offside when

he made a timid attempt to beat Alis-

son in a one-on-one in the 76th min-

ute. Wood had replaced Willock. Sec-

onds after this substitution, Klopp

sent Salah and Thiago on for

01

NEWCASTLE

UNITED LIVERPOOL

Keita 19

Liverpool, which spoke further of the

gap between these sides.

Salah’s impact was instant, his first

touch a fine piece of control, his

second one a volleyed cross-field

pass out to Díaz, who centred, with

the ball looping off a defender and

seeming set to go in before Matt

Targett stretched to make a superb

goalline clearance.