Newcastle 0-2 Liverpool: 10-man Toon do us proud after disastrous start at SJP

Newcastle United's 17-game unbeaten run has come to an end - but it could've been oh-so different at St James' Park.

After a fast start saw Miguel Almiron denied by a big early save from Alisson, what followed was one of the most cruel 12 minutes of football you'll see all season.

All of the early pressure came from us, but the Reds took the lead through Darwin Nunez, who latched onto a brilliant Alexander-Arnold through ball and smashed past Nick Pope.

One then became two as Coady Gakpo converted from another sublime pass, this time from Mo Salah. If 2-0 down wasn't bad enough when we'd been comfortably the better side, a bad start then turned into a disaster.

In an attempt to stop Salah bursting through on goal, Pope handled the ball outside the box to deny a goalscoring opportunity. A red card followed and with that it felt like our hopes of a comeback were all but killed off just 22 minutes in. Not only that, the dismissal meant he will now miss next Sunday's Carabao Cup final. Absolutely heartbreaking for Pope and a huge, huge blow.

We could've easily felt sorry for ourselves, gone into our shells and accepted defeat, yet the response was superb. Going down to 10 cut short Elliot Anderson's first Premier League start, seeing Almiron drop into a midfield three and Saint-Maximin join Isak up top in more of a 4-3-2.

The Frenchman was superb all evening and almost pulled a goal back, with a mazy run ending in a brilliant effort that clipped the bar after another big save from Alisson. Then, just moments before the break, Dan Burn hit the woodwork after powering a free header off the underside of the crossbar.

There was a similar theme at the beginning of the second half. Liverpool had the man advantage but it was Newcastle who always looked the more likely side to score. That in itself was admirable and highlighted how well we reacted to going a man down, yet so bittersweet. On another night, we'd have won this.

Saint-Maximin set up Isak, who fired a snapshot over, Schar headed wide and Wilson had a huge chance to pull a goal back blocked by Alisson. We played well over an hour with 10 men, yet we ended the game with more shots than Liverpool.

With the final in mind, Howe took off Trippier, Joelinton, Isak and Almiron, bringing on the likes of Murphy, Ritchie, Gordon and Wilson for the final 30 minutes.

Liverpool had plenty of chances to extend their lead late on, with Jota going close on several occasions and Nunez drawing a big save from Dubravka. In the end, two moments of quality and Pope's error did the damage, yet it was a performance to be proud of in so many respects.

If we can look the better side with 10 men against Liverpool, we can beat Manchester United with 11 men next weekend.

The 17-game unbeaten run is over, we've lost at St James' Park for the first time since last May and Pope will miss the final next weekend, but it's not all doom and gloom on a damaging night for Newcastle.

(4-3-3): Pope – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Anderson, Longstaff, Joelinton, Anderson – Almiron, Isak, Saint-Maximin.

SUBS: Dubravka, Dummett, Lascelles, Gordon, Wilson, Ritchie, Lewis, Manquillo, Murphy.