Rafa pleased with performance

Goals from Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard and a Djibril Cisse penalty were enough to see off the Geordies this afternoon as Rafa Benitez' decision to play a 5-3-2 formation paid dividends. Speaking after the game, Benitez said he was happy with the way his players went about their task.

"I am really happy because we played well, scored goals and could have won by a lot more than 3-1 in the end," said the Reds' manager.
 
"We used three centre backs today and had Warnock and Kromkamp as wing backs and it worked very well. The movement of Kewell caused problems for Newcastle and we started the game very well.
 
"It is really important for the team to see the strikers scoring goals and it has given me a good problem for the next game. Peter Crouch showed today why we signed him as he scored a good goal, kept the ball and won headers.
 
"It was important to win and our idea is the same and that is win one game at a time, keep going and keep closing the gap on Manchester United.
 
"It's crazy that we have another game in two days and I don't understand it, but it's a very important game against Birmingham in the FA Cup and that it why it is so important to have a good squad."