Former England international Alan Shearer upstaged the young guns at Anfield to help his side clinch an unlikely 2-2 draw.
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Owen slots home from the spot
(AlexLivesey/Allsport) |
He grabbed a dramatic equaliser for Newcastle with two minutes remaining to complete a rousing comeback after Michael Owen had got off the mark for the first time this season from the penalty spot.Owen's goal was Liverpool's second of the night after Dietmar Hamann had opened the scoring.
Newcastle had been outplayed for long spells but when Gary Speed pulled a goal back it set up a rousing finale.
Liverpool had so much possession and so many goal attempts they must be wondering how they didn't manage to bag all three points.
Hamann was only inches away from giving Liverpool the lead in the 12th minute.
Steven Gerrard laid the ball back into his path and the German's 30-yard thunderbolt whistled inches past the post.
Newcastle were again forced on the back foot when Sami Hyypia headed the ball forward but Emile Heskey failed to find the target.
The visitors were indebted to Aaron Hughes in the 14th minute. He hacked the ball off the line to deny Owen his first goal of the season.
Owen again got clear when Djimi Traore hoisted the ball forward but Shay Given raced out to block his path.
Liverpool were playing some nice football and their high tempo was causing Newcastle problems.
Gerrard was the next to go close for the home side with Titus Bramble forced to make a hasty clearance.
Then Given showed good awareness to take the ball off Owen after Smicer had set up the attack.
Newcastle hit back and Shearer shrugged off Traore's challenge to set up Dyer.
He was in a good position but he showed a lack of confidence in sending a shot into Jerzy Dudek's body.
It was only a brief respite for Newcastle, who had come under severe pressure for most of the game.
Owen skipped away from Hughes, only to send his shot from inside the area over the top.
There was a scare for Liverpool - and England - when Gerrard went down injured apparently after catching his studs on the turf.
However the midfielder, who missed the World Cup because of a groin injury, was able to resume after treatment and there was a collective sigh of relief from the Liverpool supporters when Gerrard came out for the second half.
Liverpool started off the way they had ended the first period by pushing forward.
Hyypia saw a header drift wide of the post after Murphy had floated in a free-kick from the right.
Newcastle looked edgy and that was emphasised when Nikos Dabizas almost sent the ball past Given when Murphy delivered a curling cross.
The Greek defender was grateful to see his attempted clearance end up in the crowd.
Liverpool got the goal their play deserved after a moment of slackness from Nolberto Solano.
He lost possession to Hamann who surged into the area to send a shot beyond Given into the corner.
Owen came close to getting a second when his delicate chip finished the wrong side the the post.
Hamann's direct running continued to trouble Newcastle, who couldn't get going.
The Liverpool midfielder set up Owen, who elected to shoot rather than pick out Gerrard who was in a better position.
It was a tame effort by the striker, who slumped to the floor in sheer frustration.
Newcastle manager Bobby Robson knew he needed to act fast if they were to get anything from the game.
He made a triple substitution in the 62nd minute bringing on Jermaine Jenas, Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert for Solano, Lomana LuaLua and Viana.
Newcastle suddenly came alive and Dudek did well to tip Robert's shot onto the base of the post.
Shearer fastened onto the rebound, only to see his effort cleared by Hyypia.
Owen finally got off the mark for the season in the 73rd minute when he stroked home a penalty.
The spot-kick was awarded after Dabizas's challenge on Hyypia when Gerrard swung in a corner from the right.
Heskey should have added a third, only to send a header over the top from four yards before Newcastle pulled a goal back.
Bellamy rolled the ball across the face of the area and Speed was on hand to tap it in.
Newcastle equalised two minutes from time and secured an unlikely point when Shearer headed in a corner from Robert.
Shearer almost got the winner but Dudek made a marvellous point blank save following Robert's cross.
Alan Shearer put Newcastle's late show which earned them a point at Anfield
down to the spirit within the club. Shearer pointed to the enthusiasm of his team and manager Sir bobby Robson.
'There's a great spirit in this side,' said Shearer, who also paid tribute to Sir Bobby. 'He's got this attitude that we're never beaten.'
Shearer thought defender Nikos Dabizas was harshly punished for his foul on Sami Hyypia which led to Owen's penalty. 'The referee's done very little in the game so he's given a penalty.'
Despite that Shearer was delighted to earn a point. 'We've got a point and it's a great result for us in the end.'
Hamann was unhappy his side had surrendered a two-goal lead. '2-0 up at home should be enough,' he told Sky Sports. 'If we want to win the league we've got to win the three points, we can't give two points away like this.'
Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was disappointed his side had not taken their chances after creating early pressure.
'We had plenty of chances to score a third goal,' he admitted. 'We are disappointed with the result. We created a lot of chances and we were unlucky not to score more goals.
'Every game we show a little bit better. We only got two points the last two
games but those games were better than our first two games.'
Robson said: 'We always had belief. I always felt there was something in it for
us.'
Robson admitted the penalty award against Dabizas had been the right
decision.
'I would think that would be a good decision,' he said. 'We went 2-0 down and we never gave it up. We needed to score a goal, which we did. We were back in it at 2-1 and, after that, it could have been anybody's game.'
Robson declared himself happy with his side's start to the season after three
matches.
'Three games, two away from home, and four points is not so bad,' he added.
But Robson revealed midfielder Kieron Dyer was doubtful for England's friendly
international with Portugal at Villa Park on Saturday after suffering a
recurrence of his problems with shin splints.
'Dyer has a problem I`m afraid, he's had a problem with his shin splints,'
said Robson. 'We will be issuing a bulletin later on tonight. He has been suffering a bit with the hard ground. He's considered extremely doubtful.'
- REPORTS - Premiership
