Saturday 23 April 2016

Newcastle Boost their Hope By Playing Draw With Liverpool- Liverpool 2-2 Newcastle United

Newcastle boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League by coming back from 2-0 down to claim a point at in-form Liverpool.

Daniel Sturridge's goal after 76 seconds and Adam Lallana's finish meant the Reds were cruising at the break.
But Papiss Cisse headed United back into contention early in the second half before Jack Colback pulled them level with a deflected shot.

They stay in the bottom three but are now a point behind 17th-placed Norwich.
Rafael Benitez's side have played a game more than the Canaries and two more than north-east rivals Sunderland, who are a place above them in the table, but are showing fighting spirit just when it is required.
This was their first away point of 2016 and the fifth point they have earned during what could be a pivotal week in their attempt to remain in the top flight.
MAN OF THE MATCH-ALBERTO MORENO
Liverpool came into this game as arguably the top-flight's form side following four successive wins in all competitions, during which they scored 14 goals.
They also had a striker returning to top form in Sturridge, so it was negligence of the highest order for Newcastle's defence to gift the England forward the time and space to chest down Alberto Moreno's free-kick, turn and fire home his third goal in as many games with just over a minute gone.
It would only get worse for the away side, who were out-worked, out-manoeuvred and picked off with ease as Lallana collected a square ball from Moreno before curling home from the edge of the box in the 30th minute.
It was just the half the home side needed after the news that defender Mamadou Sakho was being investigated by Uefa for a failed drugs test.
It ended without Newcastle having tested home goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and with Liverpool using as little energy as possible ahead of their Europa League semi-final first leg against Villarreal on Thursday.
In Newcastle's last away game they went down without a fight, losing 3-1 at Southampton to extend their away form to nine successive defeats.
Since then, though, the Magpies have shown spirit and resilience to beat Swansea and draw with Manchester City in back-to-back home matches and, to their credit, they re-discovered this in the second half at Anfield.
Credit must go to Benitez, who spent six successful years as Liverpool boss and master-minded another impressive result at Anfield, this time from the away dug-out.
They were given a helping hand by Mignolet, who rushed out and missed Andros Townsend's cross to gift Cisse the goal that sowed seeds of doubt in a Liverpool team that have been inconsistent for much of this season.
They grabbed the point their renewed application deserved when Colback picked the right moment to join the attack and fire in a deflected shot following Dejan Lovren's inadequate clearing header.
The result may yield only a point for Newcastle, but, more importantly, it gives them belief before the three games they have left to save their season.



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