Newcastle certainly brought plenty of fight to Anfield and looked like they were going to take a point from Liverpool at points during their game, but the Reds ultimately showed their quality and found a way to net twice in the second half, fighting their way to a deserved 3-1 victory. Newcastle scored the opener and Demba Ba played brilliantly, but Craig Bellamy and Steven Gerrard stole the show.
The opener is currently being credited as a Daniel Agger own goal, though that's harsh on the Liverpool defender. In the 25th minute, Ryan Taylor swung in a cross that Yohan Cabaye got on the end of. His header deflected off Agger, who knew little to nothing about it, and went into the back of the net.
Bellamy's answer came four minutes later. Cheick Tiote cleared a Charlie Adam cross off the line, but his clearance fell right to the feet of Bellamy. From 12 yards out, he hit a composed finish into the back of the net to give his team an equalizer. The two sides went into halftime tied 1-1, though Liverpool looked like the side with the upper hand.
Andy Carroll struggled in the first half and he continued to struggle in the second half, contributing two hilarious close-range misses to proceedings. With the spotlight on, he looked nothing like the player Liverpool thought they were getting after his impressive string of performances for Newcastle. Fortunately for him, his teammates would bail him out.
Bellamy scored a brace with his second goal in the 67th, scored off a direct free kick. The Newcastle defenders and Tim Krul looked clueless as the ball floated over the ball and into the back of the net, with Carroll confusing everyone with a screen that made the goal look like something out of an ice hockey game. Ba almost found the equalizer three minutes later, but had what appeared to be a sure goal spectacularly cleared off the line by Martin Skrtel.
Gerrard would score the clinching goal in the 77th minute, capping off what was a very solid return in the best way possible. What appeared to be a series of questionable touches took him into a tight space with a narrow angle shot and no one to cross to. He made the most of it, placing a fantastic finish into the side netting at the back post, giving his team an insurmountable two-goal lead that they would hang on to.
For more on the two teams, check out Newcastle United blog Coming Home Newcastle and Liverpool FC blogs Anfield Asylum and The Offside Liverpool.
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