Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle

A brave display from Newcastle earned them a deserved draw against dominant Liverpool in a thrilling encounter at Anfield.

The magpies went ahead on the 43^rd minute through a magnificent strike from French international Yohan Cabaye not long before half time.

Liverpool deservedly got their equaliser midway through the second period when Suarez broke away from Fabricio Coloccini (who had a hard time dealing with him all afternoon) and produced a moment of individual brilliance to give the home fans hope of finding a winner.

But Brendan Rodgers' team could not find the decisive second goal which would have been cruel on the toon as they were outstanding man to man.

The hosts set their intentions right from the first whistle by inflicting bombardment on the visitor’s net, pinning them in their own half.

Gerrard had an ambitious, if not unintentional, effort from near the half way line which was off target. The closest the reds came to a goal was a shot from Suarez from a tight angle which was easily saved by the largely untroubled Tim Krul.

But as we have seen so often this season Liverpool have been very lacklustre in front of goal and are often dominating teams without drawing first blood.

After bravely absorbing their host’s constant pressure, Newcastle, slightly against the run of play, took the lead in fine style just before the interval.

Fellow Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa twisted and turned around the Liverpool defence with the ball finding Cabaye. From just outside the six yard box, he turned on the spot and fired a wonderful curler past Brad Jones and into the right corner of the goal.

Liverpool started the second half in similar fashion to how they played in the first. But despite their dominance in territory, they struggled to really test the visiting defence.

However on the 65^th minute a long ball from former toon Jose Enrique found the Uruguayan striker Suarez who did well to keep his cool and slot the ball past helpless Krul and into the empty net.

The equaliser had been coming but  afterwards Liverpool were still not creative enough to take the three points.

However they should have gone ahead when after some brilliant skill from Suarez in the penalty area the ball found Jonjo Shelvey who somehow tapped the ball straight into the hands of the Dutch keeper.

Colocini got himself a red card a few minutes from time with a debatably reckless challenge on Suarez, narrowly avoiding contact with his boot held high.

The red card could have inspired the home side who attempted to break down Newcastle. Rahim Sterling took a shot from close range in the closing stages but a heroic block from Steven Taylor sent it out for a corner.

But the terrifically defensive effort from Alan Pardew’s side left them definitely the happier of the two teams at full time.