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| September 4, 2002 | Wednesday | Jamadi-us-Saani25,1423 |
Newcastle fight back to draw against Liverpool
LONDON, Sept 3: Newcastle United scored twice in the last nine minutes to force a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield Monday and deprive Liverpool first place in the English premier league.
Liverpool appeared to be heading for top spot and a well-deserved victory following goals from former Newcastle midfielder Dietmar Hamann after 54 minutes and a Michael Owen penalty after 73 gave them a 2-0 lead.
But Newcastle struck back with Gary Speed scoring after 81 minutes and Alan Shearer powering home a header after 89.
The result meant that Tottenham Hotspur stayed top of the league with 10 points from four matches, while Liverpool stayed third behind champions Arsenal on eight points.
Liverpool went ahead after 54 minutes when Hamman scored after robbing Nolberto Solano 30 metres out.
He then advanced on goal before shooting past Newcastle keeper Shay Given with his left-foot for his first goal since last March — when he also scored against Newcastle.
Gerard Houllier’s men doubled their lead 19 minutes later when referee Graham Poll ruled that Nikos Dabizas had climbed over Liverpool skipper Sami Hyypia at a corner and pointed to the spot.
Owen, who had not scored this season, had missed a penalty on the opening day against Aston Villa and was guilty of at least two woeful misses in the first half, coolly scored from the spot to make it 2-0.
Newcastle manager Bobby Robson, who had not won at Anfield on 26 previous visits as either a player or manager, shook up his team with a triple substitution after an hour.
His move paid dividends when Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy, two of his subs, combined to set up Speed for a relatively simple goal nine minutes from time.
Then with less than two minutes of normal time to play, Shearer powered home a corner for an unlikely equaliser.
Shearer then went close again a minute later with another header which Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek did well to save.
The result came as a huge relief for Newcastle, who started the season with a 4-0 win over West Ham but then lost to Manchester City.
Liverpool remain unbeaten but will be disappointed with the draw which came a day before Houllier’s 55th birthday on Tuesday.—Reuters
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