Premier League, Liverpool held by Newcastle United: Records broken
Newcastle United held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Saturday at Anfield. The Reds conceded a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Mohamed Salah put them ahead early on, in the match. While the draw puts Newcastle nine points clear of the relegation zone, Liverpool's bid for a Champions League spot hangs in the balance. Here's more.
How did the match pan out?
Salah drew first blood when he opened the scoring after just three minutes for Liverpool. The Egypt international jumped on a loose ball, and successfully hit the top right corner. This remained the only goal until substitute Joe Willock fired the equalizer in the 95th minute. The likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane had opportunities to score, but failed eventually.
Willock attains these feats
Joe Willock has now scored in three consecutive Premier League appearances as a substitute. As per Opta, he is the first player to do so in the competition since Adam Le Fondre in January 2013. Since 2006/07, Willock's equalizer for Newcastle is the latest goal that Liverpool have conceded in a Premier League game at Anfield (94:58).
Salah completes 20 goals this season
Mohamed Salah has become the first Liverpool player to score at least 20 goals in three different Premier League campaigns. At present, he owns second-most goals in the ongoing season after Harry Kane (21). Notably, Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota started together for Liverpool for just the third time (Other games: vs Sheffield United in October, vs Manchester City in November).
Liverpool don't deserve to play Champions League: Jurgen Klopp
After the match, Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool don't deserve a Champions League spot. "In a specific way, we don't fight enough. I didn't see us that we deserved today to play Champions League next year. But we will see what we can do. In a few days we will play Manchester United which will be a tough one as well," he said.
