Just in case anyone wondered whether the Spaniard goal's during an FA Cup third-round tie away to Luton Town was a one-off, he did it again last night to ensure Liverpool's first win in four games — and this time he did so by lofting the ball over the goalkeeper from fully 65 yards.
It was a moment that caused Steve Harper some embarrassment on his return to Newcastle United's starting line-up, the goalkeeper having tripped as he back-pedalled in desperation, but it says everything about Alonso's vision that he attempted such a shot after tackling Charles N'Zogbia just outside the centre circle with 11 minutes remaining.
Such was its splendour, Alonso's goal overshadowed the 29th-minute effort from Dirk Kuyt, his first for the club, but Liverpool will not mind that, having returned to winning ways after two consecutive defeats away from home in the Barclays Premiership.
This fixture has gathered a certain resonance down the years and, if this encounter lacked the drama of those memorable 4-3 wins for Liverpool in the mid-1990s, it was not without incident.
Much of it involved Craig Bellamy, whose eagerness to prove a point to his former team-mates led one Newcastle supporter to throw a bottle that only narrowly missed him. Elsewhere there was an unedifying shove in Kuyt's face from Celestine Babayaro and the rare sight of Steven Gerrard being bawled out by a team-mate — who else would dare but Jamie Carragher? — after being beaten to the ball by Stephen Carr.
By the time the interval arrived, though, the only contribution that truly mattered had come from Kuyt, sliding in to poke the ball past Harper — starting a Premiership match for the first time in 17 months as a result of Shay Given's stomach injury — from close range after a characteristic slide-rule pass from Alonso sent Steve Finnan behind the Newcastle defence.
Newcastle's threat was sporadic at best, with Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi shackled impressively by Carragher and the ever-improving Daniel Agger. Scott Parker scurried around to decent effect, no doubt hoping to catch the eye of the watching Steve McClaren, the England head coach, but he alone could not lift a team who seemed unlikely to repeat their performance away to West Ham United on Sunday.
The black-and-white hordes remained noisy throughout, never more so than after two penalty appeals were rejected early in the second half. Both times Ameobi was involved, first falling victim to a lunge from Agger and then seeing a goalbound shot blocked by the hand of Carragher, but Mark Halsey, the referee, was unmoved.
At times Liverpool's attacking play was excellent. Gerrard, subdued in the first half, began to warm to his role on the right wing while Alonso and García, having started the new campaign slowly, were showing their best form. Only the finishing touch was missing, with Kuyt fluffing a shot when set up by García and Bellamy, for the second time, losing his composure when one-on-one with Harper, this time lifting a shot over the goalkeeper but wide of the goal.
García came closer in the 74th minute, rattling the inside of a post after controlling Gerrard's pass superbly, while Kuyt missed another chance, but then Alonso showed his team-mates how it is done or, rather, how a genius such as he can do it. It was simply breathtaking.