Newcastle vs. Liverpool, final score 1-0: a turgid affair ends in Newcastle’s favor

It’s well known games that promise lots of goals very rarely deliver, yet us impressionable fans continue to get excited anyway. At least Newcastle vs. Loverpool gave us one goal, although it took quite some time to get there.

The first half of Liverpool’s visit to Newcastle was one of the most boring in recent memory. Liverpool, usually so willing to get forward, had but one shot during the first 45 minutes. Not one shot on target, but one shot. Period. Newcastle, for their part, managed a few decent attempts, but somehow the Reds’ backline was up to the challenge.

Part of the reason for the visitors’ general ineptitude looked to be Brendan Rodgers’ insistence on using a rather incoherent 3-5-1-1. The formation may have succeeded in keeping out Newcastle (although why anyone would want Dejan Lovren, Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel in a back three still remains a mystery) but it left Mario Balotelli isolated up top.

Rather than make a change at the break, Rodgers persisted -- but Alan Pardew was willing to change things up, bringing on Ayoze Pérez for Papiss Cissé. By the time Newcastle made their third substitution, in the 66th minute, Rodgers was finally ready to make a change, pulling Joe Allen in favor of Fabio Borini.

While the changes worked to liven up both sides, it was, once again, Pardew’s manipulations that put his side in front.

The goal seemed to come from nowhere, with Paul Dummett putting in a cross that should’ve been easy enough for Liverpool to deal with. Instead, Alberto Moreno delivered it directly to the feet of Pérez, who had no trouble putting it away.

Minutes later, Cabella was through on goal after some impressive work from Pérez, but Simon Mignolet managed to stick out a foot to save his side. Liverpool were looking utterly out of their depth. Rodgers’ solution to the constant Newcastle threat was to take off Philippe Coutinho, replacing him with Rickie Lambert. The substitution at least gave Balotelli a partner up front, but Raheem Sterling, out right, still looked isolated.

It may have been a case of too little, too late. Rodgers’ system looked doomed from the start, and the late addition of Lambert did not give Liverpool enough time to find an equalizer, much less all three points.

goals: Pérez 73’