Liverpool on Saturday beat Newcastle 2-0 to end the Magpies’ 17-match unbeaten run in the English Premier League at St James’ Park.
The Reds opened their scoring account just after 10 minutes when Darwin Nunez slotted home marauding full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s brilliantly floated pass.
Liverpool doubled their lead seven minutes later as Cody Gakpo brought Mo Salah’s pass down before burying the ball into Newcastle’s net.
Newcastle’s hope for a comeback was damaged as they were reduced to 10-man after goalkeeper Nick Pope was shown the red card for handling the ball outside the box 22 minutes into the game.
The Newcastle keeper then left referee Anthony Taylor with no option but to send him off after he slipped outside the box and had to handle the ball to stop Salah from racing clear.
The red card rules Pope out of next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Ironically, Pope’s replacement Martin Dubravka is cup-tied for Wembley having played for Manchester United in an earlier round.
This leaves former Liverpool keeper Loris Karius as the most likely contender to face Erik ten Hag’s side.