Liverpool saw their cushion at the Premier League summit cut to seven points as they squandered a late advantage in a 3-3 draw against Newcastle United.
When Sandro Tonali forced a smart stop out of Caoimhin Kelleher in the opening stages at St. James’ Park, Liverpool probably sensed they weren’t in for an easy night.
But after weathering an early Newcastle storm, the Reds began to assert their authority on the game, and after Alexis Mac Allister forced an impressive save out of Nick Pope, the Argentinian hit the post from the resulting corner.
It was Newcastle’s turn to rattle the woodwork next, as after Alexander Isak freed Jacob Murphy down the right, his fizzing effort bounced away off the far post.
Liverpool didn’t particularly heed that warning call, and they were looking uncharacteristically poor this evening, which was eventually punished 10 minutes before the break.
They were punished in emphatic fashion too, as Isak gathered the ball, tied Virgil van Dijk in knots and then thundered an effort into the roof of Kelleher’s net.
The Reds had their stopper to thank for the fact they didn’t go into the break two goals behind, as after Joe Gomez’s under-hit backpass put Anthony Gordon through on goal, the stand-in Liverpool keeper rebuffed his effort.
There was a sense Liverpool couldn’t be as bad in the second half as they were in the first, and that rang true within five minutes of the restart when Mohamed Salah teed up Curtis Jones to sweep home an equaliser.
But they never truly pressed home their advantage, and instead found themselves behind shortly after the hour mark when former Everton man Anthony Gordon squeezed an effort past Kelleher.
But in a topsy-turvy clash, Liverpool didn’t trail for too long, and it was that man Salah who turned home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s near post delivery.
It was evident Arne Slot’s side were looking to Salah for a game-winning moment in the closing stages, and he duly found it when, after hitting the bar moments earlier, he swivelled inside the area and completed Liverpool’s comeback.
Or so he thought. A crazy game had one final twist when Fabian Schar slid home at the far post to convert Bruno Guimaraes’ free-kick following a goalkeeping blunder from Kelleher, which cost Liverpool dearly on a night where they looked set to show all the hallmarks of champions in waiting.
