Football Live

Saturday March 8, 2008 Finished Anfield

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Liverpool

  • Pennant 43’
  • Torres 45’
  • Gerrard 51’

Newcastle United

  1. Torres and Gerrard slay Toon

    Torres and Gerrard slay Toon

    Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard tore Newcastle apart in a 3-0 win at Anfield that took Liverpool back into fourth in the Premier League. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Liverpool
    • Newcastle United
    • - Now you can follow Liverpool's Champions League opponents Inter in action. They take on Reggina at the San Siro, and that kicks off at 5pm!
    • 90+3' All over! Liverpool cruise to victory and Newcastle might just have hit rock bottom.
    • 89' Just a couple of minutes to go, neither side looking particularly interested in scoring.
    • 86' Riise tries a Cristiano Ronaldo-style trick top beat his man but clogs the ball out for a goal kick. Not one for the show reel.
    • 83' Riise!! He fires in a right-foot shot that forces a good save from Harper.
    • 79' Sami Hyypia comes on for Pennant as Rafa Benitez makes his final substitution.
    • 77' Both sides are just going through the motions. Liverpool because they have a big game on Tuesday; Newcastle because they have been thoroughly outplayed.
    • 75' Skrtel heads behind for a Newcastle corner that is flicked on at the near post but lands to Kuyt who attempts to lead a counter-attack.
    • 72' Anfield is on its feet again as Peter Crouch replaces the excellent Fernando Torres.
    • 70' MARTINS OFF THE BAR!!! He smashes a volley from fully 40 yards that clears Reina but ricochets back off the woodwork. Brilliant!
    • 68' Riise slips to let Martins through the centre... the speeds to the edge of the box and fires a left-foot shot straight at Reina. Still, it's miles better than anything Owen has produced today.
    • 66' No surprise, this. Steven Gerrard comes off for Dirk Kuyt. A standing ovation for the Liverpool skipper.
    • 63' It's hot knife through butter time! Gerrard and Benayoun exchange passes so easily... Newcastle are nowhere.
    • 62' Riise is brought down as he crosses from the left and rolls around, seemingly injured, for a while before deciding he is OK. Meanwhile Gerrard spanks a volley wide from 30 yards.
    • 59' Newcastle bring on Martins for Duff, but it's a bit late now.
    • 57' Great save Harper to deny Gerrard, but once again it is all too easy for Liverpool. Gerrard and Torres are getting the run of Anfield.
    • 55' Lucas wins the ball from Smith in midfield and tries a long-range shot that fades wide from 25 yards.
    • 53' Expect to see Benitez haul off his main men before too long. This game is dead and buried, and with the Inter game on Tuesday he will want to protect Gerrard and Torres.
    • 51' GOAL!!! Torres for Gerrard this time!! It's too easy! The Liverpool skipper holds his run and Torres finds him through the centre, with Gerrard prodding the ball expertly past Harper. It's another hammering for Keegan's Newcastle.
    • 50' Gerrard finds Lucas with a sensational rerverse pass but the Brazilian's first touch is too heavy.
    • 48' Poor clearance by Reina, unnecessarily putting his side under pressure. But Newcastle end up passing the ball all the way back to Harper.
    • 46' Second half. James Milner was replaced by Geremi a minute before the break following that ankle knock, but otherwise the sides are unchanged.
    • 45+3' Half-time. Time to chalk up another one in the 'L' column for Keegan's boys, it would seem.
    • 45+1' GOAL!!!! It's two, it's brilliant!! Gerrard plays a pacy diagonal ball to Torres who dummies Harper, Pele-style, and knocks it into the empty net. Pure class.
    • 45' Just a ridiculous goal, and typical of Newcastle's luck at the moment. Keegan is crestfallen. That was freakish to say the least.
    • 43' GOAL!!! Pennant opens the scoring but it is an own goal in all but name. Jose Enrique's clearance hits the unwitting Pennant and loops bizarrely into the net.
    • 42' Gerrard chases a through ball and goes down under the attention of Jose Enrique. It looks for a moment as though Peter Walton is pointing to the spot but in fact it is a goal kick. Good decision.
    • 41' Geremi runs backwards down the touchline - a prime candidate for that jape when you get your mate to crouch behind them. Sadly nobody obliges.
    • 38' Milner is struggling after what looks like a whack to the ankle. He will try to run it off, but it looks quite bad.
    • 36' Duff gives it away and Jose Enrique fouls Arbeloa on the right. The free-kick is knocked low to Gerrard whose low shot bounces back off a forest of legs. No, in fact the replay suggests it was a Harper save.
    • 35' Liverpool have nothing to show for a strong start and have lost their way somewhat in the last 10 minutes or so. Not dissimilar to the Manchester United-Portsmouth game, in fact.
    • 33' Yet another poor Liverpool corner, Pennant lobbing his cross straight into the arms of Harper.
    • 30' Faye needlessly gives away an corner as we near the half-hour mark.. and he makes an excellent headed clearance.
    • 27' Butt appears to leave the foot in on Alvaro Arbeloa, and Peter Walton shows remarkable leniency not to book him.
    • 26' Awful, just awful. N'Zogbia belts a promising-looking free-kick straight into the crowd. Keegan does his best to look upbeat.
    • 24' Owen runs at the Liverpool defence but is clearly much to keen to make an impression, going for goal when he had two better-placed team-mates standing a short pass away.
    • 23' Riise pings in a peach of a cross from the left but Torres does not attack it and Faye makes an easy clearance.
    • 21' Pennant delivers an outswinging corner from the Liverpool right. Decent defending there. Gerrard plays it back into the edge of the six yard box, stabbed away by Taylor.
    • 19' Gerrard has a long shot that skids low and Harper holds at the second attempt. The pitch is wet thanks to some nagging rain, so that wasn't easy for the keeper.
    • 18' Newcastle win a corner at the other end - well punched away by Reina. People have a go at foreign keepers for punching, but he would never have caught that and it proved an excellent decision.
    • 17' A deflected Riise shot nearly loops into the path of Torres, but once again it just doesn't fall for him.
    • 15' Well done Benayoun to find space on the right and send over a great cross to Torres, but it arrives awkwardly at chest height and the Spaniard is unable to propel it goalwards.
    • 14' Click the links above these comments for all sorts of stats, including the unsurprising news that Liverpool have enjoyed nearly two-thirds possession.
    • 12' Pennant turns the fairly abject Jose Enrique but his low cross is cut out at the neat post. Liverpool back in complete control.
    • 11' Torres shows he is well able to play alone up front, cutting in from the right unsupported, beating his man and firing a shot just wide of the far post. What a player.
    • 9' A Newcastle corner comes to nothing but Keegan will be relieved to see the ball down the right end of the pitch from his point of view.
    • 7' Ouch! Martin Skrtel is sent flying and bashes his head on the advertising hoardings. Take that, Setanta! He is soon back up on his feet.
    • 6' A great start this from Liverpool, full of attacking intent and drive. It could be a long day for Kevin Keegan. Torres finds Benayoun with a sublime backheel but the Israeli gives it away.
    • 4' Neat interplay between Gerrard and Torres, but the Englishman collects his colleague's return pass and is forced slightly wide. He attempts a backheeled pass but loses possession.
    • 3' Already some nervy defending from Newcastle! Faye dawdles on the ball heading towards his own box and is nearly dispossessed by Gerrard. The ball is finally scrambled away.
    • 1' We're under way! Steve Harper continues between the sticks for the visitors with Shay Given still injured. It has been a thankless task for both Newcastle keepers this season.
    • - Newcastle are still without a win under Kevin Keegan and have taken just three points from the last 33 available. However, they have Liverpool old boy Michael Owen leading the line. Rafa Benitez's yo-yo season seems to be on the up again thanks to two consecutive Fernando Torres hat-tricks. He starts again today.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Liverpool v Newcastle from Anfield!

  • Team Stats

    Liverpool Stats Newcastle United
    63% Possession 36%
    20 Shots 6
    9 Shots on target 3
    3 Saves 5
    12 Corners 8
    7 Fouls 9
    2 Offsides 2
    1 Yellow cards 0
    0 Red cards 0
    27 Tackles 19
    409 Accurate passes 177
    57 Bad passes 39

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Liverpool
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0
      23 Jamie Carragher 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 65 3 1
      6 John Arne Riise 0 4 1 1 0 0 0 27 10 0
      17 Alvaro Arbeloa 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 36 2 2
      37 Martin Skrtel 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 52 11 6
      8 Steven Gerrard 1 6 4 0 0 0 1 27 6 4
      14 Xabi Alonso 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 79 10 3
      21 Lucas Leiva 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 35 4 5
      16 Jermaine Pennant 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 20 0 2
      11 Yossi Benayoun 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 18 5 1
      9 Fernando Torres 1 2 2 0 0 1 1 12 4 1
      18 Dirk Kuyt 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 10 2 1
      15 Peter Crouch 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0
      4 Sami Hyypia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1
      30 Charles Itandje 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Ryan Babel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Newcastle United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      13 Steve Harper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0
      27 Steven Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
      3 José Enrique Sanchez Diaz 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 14 9 4
      21 Habib Beye 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 2 5
      25 Abdoulaye Faye 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 4 1
      22 Nicky Butt 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 42 5 1
      14 Charles N'Zogbia 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 14 6 0
      16 James Milner 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 0 0
      11 Damien Duff 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 9 1 0
      17 Alan Smith 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2 4
      10 Michael Owen 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 13 4 2
      20 Geremi Nijtap 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 12 3 1
      9 Obafemi Martins 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 1 1 1
      6 Claudio Caçapa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      39 Andy Carroll 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      34 Fraser Forster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 83' Riise!! He fires in a right-foot shot that forces a good save from Harper.
    • 70' MARTINS OFF THE BAR!!! He smashes a volley from fully 40 yards that clears Reina but ricochets back off the woodwork. Brilliant!
    • 57' Great save Harper to deny Gerrard, but once again it is all too easy for Liverpool. Gerrard and Torres are getting the run of Anfield.
    • 51' GOAL!!! Torres for Gerrard this time!! It's too easy! The Liverpool skipper holds his run and Torres finds him through the centre, with Gerrard prodding the ball expertly past Harper. It's another hammering for Keegan's Newcastle.
    • 45+1' GOAL!!!! It's two, it's brilliant!! Gerrard plays a pacy diagonal ball to Torres who dummies Harper, Pele-style, and knocks it into the empty net. Pure class.
    • 43' GOAL!!! Pennant opens the scoring but it is an own goal in all but name. Jose Enrique's clearance hits the unwitting Pennant and loops bizarrely into the net.
    • 42' Gerrard chases a through ball and goes down under the attention of Jose Enrique. It looks for a moment as though Peter Walton is pointing to the spot but in fact it is a goal kick. Good decision.
    • 19' Gerrard has a long shot that skids low and Harper holds at the second attempt. The pitch is wet thanks to some nagging rain, so that wasn't easy for the keeper.
    • 11' Torres shows he is well able to play alone up front, cutting in from the right unsupported, beating his man and firing a shot just wide of the far post. What a player.
    • 7' Ouch! Martin Skrtel is sent flying and bashes his head on the advertising hoardings. Take that, Setanta! He is soon back up on his feet.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Liverpool v Newcastle from Anfield!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Peter Walton

  • Liverpool

    Manager: Rafa Benitez

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    On the Field

    • Reina
    • Arbeloa
    • Skrtel
    • Carragher
    • Riise Yellow Card
    • Alonso
    • Lucas
    • Gerrard Goal Substitution Out (66′)
    • Pennant Goal Substitution Out (79′)
    • Benayoun
    • Torres Goal Substitution Out (72′)

    Subs

    • Hyypia Substitution In (79′)
    • Crouch Substitution In (72′)
    • Itandje
    • Kuijt Substitution In (66′)
    • Babel

    Injured

    • Finnan
    • Voronin
    • Agger

    Suspended

    None

  • Newcastle United

    Manager: Kevin Keegan

    Captain: Michael Owen

    On the Field

    • Harper
    • Beye
    • Diagne-Faye
    • Taylor
    • Enrique
    • Milner Substitution Out (45′)
    • Butt
    • N'Zogbia
    • Duff Substitution Out (59′)
    • Owen
    • Smith

    Subs

    • Geremi Substitution In (45′)
    • Caçapa
    • Martins Substitution In (59′)
    • Carroll
    • Forster

    Injured

    • Emre
    • Viduka
    • Given
    • Ramage
    • Carr

    Suspended

    None