Shooting practice ends well for Rafa's Liverpool

Newcastle United FC were beaten away from home by a side which is not giving up on the title challenge easily. Liverpool were by far the better side in the tie, and looked like scoring every time they went forward with the ball.

United started brightly with a string of chances in the first ten minutes, but rarely threatened to put the ball passed Jose Reina.

The Reds were very fortunate to go ahead through Yossi Benayoun in the first-half, after some erroneous refereeing from the lines-man, and Phil Dowd allowed the offside goal to stand.

Liverpool capitalized from that point on, and went onto put in a dominant display which only epitomized their determination to win the title this season.

Joey Barton was sent-off late on by Dowd for a challenge on Xabi Alonso, which further pushed the Toon towards relegation. In a midfield of mediocrity Barton was the one spark that showed promise. However, with him banned for the next three matches, the future does indeed look bleak.

TEAMS

Liverpool FC: Pepe Reina, Daniel Agger, Steven Gerrard, Albert Riera, Fabio Aurelio, Xabi Alonso, Yossi Benayoun, Alvaro Arbeloa, Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano, Jamie Carragher

Subs: Diego Cavalieri, Andrea Dossena, Ryan Babel, Lucas, David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar, Martin Skrtel

Newcastle United: Steve Harper, Habib Beye, Damien Duff, Sebastien Bassong, Fabricio Coloccini, Nicky Butt (c), Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Peter Lovenkrands, Oba Martins, Mark Viduka

Subs: Tim Krul, Kevin Nolan, Michael Owen, Danny Guthrie, Andy Carroll, David Edgar, Jonas Gutierrez

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