Instead it was the much traveled Craig Bellamy, who has embraced the opportunity at the club closest to his heart, who scored twice to set up victory for Liverpool on Friday night. The first, a drilled shot into the corner of the Kop goal brought the home side level and the second, a well taken free kick that was helped, somewhat comically, into the net by Simpson put Liverpool ahead at a crucial stage in the game.
Bellamy’s performance, curtailed by Coloccini’s elbow, was full of passion and determination, his instinct to head at opposing defenders whenever he has possession provides Liverpool with an important outlet. His man of the match performance was overshadowed by Steven Gerrard’s introduction and subsequent goal but his role in this important victory should not be underestimated. Kenny Dalglish’s decision to bring him back to the club continues to pay dividends.
The game overall was an entertaining and enjoyable spectacle. Recent draws had endangered Liverpool’s Champion’s League qualification prospects but if the players were feeling any pressure they kept it well hidden. Early dominance had not created clear-cut opportunities and on twenty-five minutes, in almost the visitor’s first attack, Newcastle took the lead. Cabaye’s flicked header, from Taylor’s cross, deflected off Agger’s arm to leave Reina diving the wrong way. Rather than feel hard done by Liverpool increased the pressure and Bellamy equalized four minutes later after good work from Charlie Adam. Going into the break the home side stayed on the offence looking much the better side.
The second half began at a slower pace than the first but was brought to life when Steven Gerrard replaced Charlie Adam in the sixtieth minute. His first contribution was to curl a cross into the path of Carroll who denied himself the opportunity to score in front of the Geordie fans by failing to control the ball.
On the sixty-seventh minute Bellamy’s second goal was tangible reward for Liverpool pressure. Three minutes later it looked as if the reward was going to be short lived as Demba Ba poked the ball underneath a diving Reina and rolled it towards the empty net. As Anfield held it’s collective breath Martin Skrtel sprinted and stretched to clear the ball from the goal line. To get there in time was remarkable, to succeed in not skewing the ball into the net was incredible.
Liverpool returned to the attack and minutes later Carroll, again supplied by Gerrard, thundered a header against the bar. On the seventy- ninth minute the game was put beyond Newcastle as Henderson and Gerrard combined on the edge of the box to send the captain free. As the Newcastle defence looked to block a pull back to Carroll Gerrard slotted the ball through the keeper’s legs before celebrating with Dalglish on the touchline.
Liverpool continued to press to the last minute when Downing lofted a ball over the bar with Krul stranded outside the box. The whistle blew with Liverpool celebrating a victory that put them temporarily above Arsenal and level on points with Chelsea.
The result, and others over the weekend, combined to reduce the gap between Liverpool and the coveted fourth place in the table to two points. There were many other positives to take from the match.
Jay Spearing stepped back into the starting eleven and performed well. Enrique and Johnson continued to show their attacking potential as Skrtel and Agger demonstrated their prowess at both ends of the pitch. The team collectively showed they can create and take chances in the absence of Luis Suarez.
Clearly the biggest fillip is the return of Gerrard. His leadership and presence lifts those around him, his composure in front of goal promises to reduce the amount of games where dominance does not receive its fair reward and he may be the key to unlocking Carroll’s potential.
As the year turns one thing for certain is that the progress made in the last twelve months has been nothing short of outstanding. We are watching a Liverpool team that is committed to the cause and one that looks to move the ball forward at every opportunity. Media figures had laughably questioned Dalglish’s performance in light of draws against Wigan and Blackburn. If two points from fourth place, a cup semi final and vibrant attacking football are not sufficient signs of improvement to earn respect for the Glaswegian then his critics have short memories. It unlikely that the Liverpool boss will have paid any heed to the negative voices but on Friday his team gave the perfect response where it counts.