It’s a good job the season does not start on January 1st

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Newcastle United 2-0 Liverpool – Matchday Gallery

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Newcastle United 2-0 Liverpool – Full Time Report, Stats & Ratings

Barclays Premier League, Sunday 1st April 2012, St James Park, 13:30pm

Newcastle United 2-0 Liverpool FC

Referee: Martin Atkinson   H-T: 1-0   Att: 52,363

Match Report

A Papiss Cisse double saw 10-man Liverpool slip to a 2-0 defeat against Newcastle United at the Sports Direct Arena on Sunday. The Magpies opened the scoring against the run of play on 19 minutes when the Senegal forward headed home from Hatem Ben Arfa’s centre. The goal came in the aftermath of strong penalty appeals from the Reds were waved away after Andy Carroll’s goal-bound header appeared to be blocked on the line by Danny Simpson’s raised arm. Cisse netted his second just before the hour-mark, tapping in from close range after the ball broke kindly for him in the box to seal victory for the home team. Liverpool had Pepe Reina sent off for an altercation with James Perch in the dying stages, and having used all three substitutes, Jose Enrique was required to play in goal for the 10 men as Newcastle claimed the three points. The pre-match team news confirmed three changes to Kenny Dalglish’s starting XI, with Newcastle old boys Carroll and Craig Bellamy joining Jonjo Shelvey in an attack-minded line-up. Enrique also began against his former club. For Bellamy, it was his first appearance since Liverpool’s last journey to the north-east to face Sunderland on March 10 due to injury. The Reds journeyed to the Sports Direct Arena aiming to end a sequence of back-to-back Barclays Premier League defeats and close the gap on the sixth-placed home side to five points. The visitors began assertively and Shelvey had the game’s first opportunity when his curler from Carroll’s layoff deflected off Yohan Cabaye and looped onto the roof of Tim Krul’s net. Next, Martin Skrtel stooped to header a Steven Gerrard free-kick over the bar from inside the six-yard box. With Liverpool’s triumvirate of ex-Newcastle men roundly booed at every opportunity by the home crowd, Carroll looked set to quell their decibel levels when he got the better of centre-backs Mike Williamson and James Perch before going down under the challenge of Krul with nine minutes played. Referee Martin Atkinson, however, deemed the No.9 to have gone to ground too easily and awarded him a yellow card. Nonetheless, the visitors were soon swarming towards the home side’s goal once more and Krul was forced to tip Bellamy’s deflected cross onto the top of the woodwork. From the resulting corner, Carroll’s downward header was blocked on the line by what TV replays suggested was the arm of Simpson. Pepe Reina had been little more than a spectator in the opening exchanges, but on 19 minutes he found himself picking the ball out of the back of his net as Newcastle scored with their first meaningful attack. Ben Arfa twisted and turned before floating a cross to the back post over Skrtel, allowing Cisse to guide a deft header into the far corner of the net. The goal was harsh on Liverpool, but they could have drawn level within 10 minutes when Bellamy’s low cross was deflected up into the air by Williamson. Carroll rose above Krul, but could only guide his header onto the top of the net. The Reds were afforded a let off four minutes before the break when Cisse was picked out by Danny Guthrie’s right-wing cross, but the striker sent his header wide of the far post. Dalglish’s side had to survive another scare moments after the re-start. Guthrie was again the supplier, this time his centre was nodded against the base of the upright by Williamson. On 55 minutes, Gerrard’s dangerous low pass into the box almost picked out the unmarked run of Bellamy, but the ball was an inch too far in front of the No.39 and Krul collected, before a positive surge forward from Shelvey resulted in the youngster striking into the arms of the Newcastle goalkeeper from the edge of the box. But on 59 minutes, the hosts doubled their advantage when Cisse notched his second of the afternoon. Demba Ba’s pass into the area missed its intended target of Ben Arfa, but rolled through for Cisse, who side-stepped Reina and slotted beyond Skrtel on the line. Luis Suarez almost mustered an instant riposte for Liverpool when he gained possession ahead of Krul on the edge of the box, but Perch stuck out a leg to prevent the Uruguay forward from hitting the back of the net. Dalglish sent on Stewart Downing, Dirk Kuyt and Jordan Henderson as the Reds sought to reduce the deficit, but Reina’s late red card for an altercation with Perch required Enrique to play the final exchanges in goal on an afternoon to forget in the north-east.

Team Line-Up’s
Newcastle United	Liverpool
Tim Krul	Pepe Reina
Danny Simpson	John Flanagan
James Perch	Martin Skrtel
Mike Williamson	Jamie Carragher
Jonas Guiterrez	Jose Enrique
Yohan Cabaye	Steven Gerrard
Danny Guthrie	Jonjo Shelvey
Hatem Ben Arfa	Jay Spearing
Papiss Cisse	Craig Bellamy
Cheiek Tiote	Luis Suarez
Demba Ba	Andy Carroll
Substitutes	Substitutes
Rob Elliot	Alexander Doni
Davide Santon	Fabio Aurelio
Ryan Taylor	Sebastian Coates
Shane Ferguson	Maxi Rodriguez
Dan Gosling	Jordan Henderson
Haras Vukic	Stewart Downing
Shola Ameobi	Dirk Kuyt
Substitutions
Dan Gosling for Danny Guthrie 65′
Shola Ameobi for Papiss Cisse 74′
Stewart Downing for Jonjo Shelvey 76′
Dirk Kuyt for Andy Carroll 80′
Jordan Henderson for Craig Bellamy 80′
Davide Santon for Ben Arfa 90′
Goals
Papiss Cisse 19′
Papiss Cisse 59′
Yellow Cards
Papiss Cisse 30′	Andy Carroll 10′
Cheiek Tiote 49′	Jonjo Shelvey 18′
James Perch 82′	John Flanagan 45′
Red Cards
	Pepe Reina 82′
Referee
Martin Atkinson
Attendance
52,363
LFC Player Ratings
Pepe Reina	4/10
John Flanagan	6/10
Martin Skrtel	6/10
Jamie Carragher	6/10
Jose Enrique	5/10
Steven Gerrard	6/10
Jay Spearing	6/10
Jonjo Shelvey	5/10
Craig Bellamy	5/10
Luis Suarez	7/10
Andy Carroll	7/10
Substitutes
Alexander Doni	DNP
Sebastian Coates	DNP
Fabio Aurelio	DNP
Dirk Kuyt	5/10
Stewart Downing	5/10
Jordan Henderson	5/10
Maxi Rodriguez	DNP
Referee
Martin Atkinson	4/10

Match Stats

Newcastle United		Liverpool
52%	Possession	48%
11	Shots On	9
7	Shots Off	6
3	Corners	6
10	Fouls	11
3	Yellow	3
0	Red	1

Head to Head – Newcastle United

Updated: Liverpool FC 2011/2012 – Premier League Attendances

Liverpool FC 2011/2012 Premier League Attendances

	Total	Home	Away
Sunderland	45,018	45,018
Arsenal	60,090		60,090
Bolton	44,725	44,725
Stoke	27,592		27,592
Tottenham	36,129		36,129
Wolverhampton	44,922	44,922
Everton	39,510		39,510
Man Utd	45,095	45,095
Norwich City	44,931	44,931
West Bromwich	25,522		25,522
Swansea City	45,013	45,013
Chelsea	41,820		41,820
Manchester City	45,071	45,071
Fulham	25,688		25,688
Queens Park R	45,016	45,016
Aston Villa	37,460		37,460
Wigan Athletic	19,230		19,230
Blackburn Rowers	44,441	44,441
Newcastle United	44,372	44,372
Manchester City	47,131		47,131
Stoke City	44,691	44,691
Bolton Wanderers	26,854		26,854
Wolverhampton W	27,447		27,447
Tottenham Hotspur	44,461	44,461
Manchester United	74,844		74,844
Arsenal	44,922	44,922
Sunderland	41,661		41,661
Everton	44,921	44,921
Queens Park Rangers	18,033		18,033
Wigan Athletic	44,431	44,431
Newcastle United	52,363		52,363
	Total	Total	Total
	1.273.374	627,000	601,383
	Average	Average	Average
	41,077	44,800	37,586

Highest Home Attendance – Manchester United 45,071 – 27.11.2011

Lowest Home Attendance – Newcastle United 44,372 – 30.12..2011

Highest Away Attendance – Man Utd 74,844 – 11.02.2012

Lowest Away Attendance – Queens Park Rangers 18,033 – 21.3.2012

*** Premier League Matches Only ***

*** Last Updated 01.04.2012 ***

Updated: Liverpool FC 2011/2012 – Most Benched Players

Liverpool FC 2011/2012 Most times on the Bench

#	Player	Games on Bench
1	Alexander Doni	31
2	Sebastian Coates	19
3	Maxi Rodriguez	16
4	Martin Kelly	15
5	Jamie Carragher	15
6	Craig Bellamy	14
7	Andy Carroll	14
8	Jonjo Shelvey	14
9	Jay Spearing	13
10	Dirk Kuyt	12
11	Johnathan Flanagan	10
12	Stewart Downing	7
13	Jordan Henderson	7
14	Steven Gerrard	6
15	Fabio Aurelio	6
16	Jack Robinson	4
17	Martin Skrtel	2
18	Raul Meireles	2
19	Daniel Agger	2
20	Luis Suarez	2
21	Charlie Adam	2
22	David N’Gog	1
23	Glen Johnson	1
24	Nathan Eccelston	1
25	Raheem Sterling	1

*** Premier League Matches Only ***

*** Last Updated 01.04.2012 ***