Keita keeps nerve to send Liverpool back to the summit
Cool heads prevail: Liverpool's Naby Keita (centre) celebrates scoring the only goal of the game with team-mates Andrew Robertson (left) and Luis Diaz (right) at St. James' Park.
THE musical chairs at the top of the Premier League shows no sign of letting up after an early Naby Keita winner ensured Liverpool returned to the summit.
Jurgen Klopp's risky move of making five changes against one of the top flight's form sides was fully vindicated by a fifth consecutive victory to stretch their impressive unbeaten run to a dozen matches.
Keita's cool strike midway through the first-half was enough to keep the Reds' bandwagon rolling and halt Newcastle's four-match winning run by inflicting a first home league defeat on Eddie Howe's side since December.
Just 62 hours on from the first instalment of their Champions League semi-final against Villarreal, Liverpool had too much quality and know-how for their nouveau riche hosts as they put the pressure squarely back on Manchester City ahead of their evening kick-off at struggling Leeds.
Only a stand-out display from Martin Dubravka ensured Liverpool didn't bolster their goal difference by a more handsome margin - but the busy Newcastle keeper could do nothing to prevent Keita's decisive 19th-minute strike in front of a sold out St James' Park.
With Newcastle wanting play to be stopped due to an injury to defender Fabian Schar, Diogo Jota played to the whistle to create the opening, and Keita kept his cool to dribble across the area and past Dubravka before slotting home the contest's only goal.
It was a rare moment of composure in an at times frenetic encounter, with Sadio Mane guilty of wasting a chance to double the advantage before the break when he shot too close to Dubravka, who also did well to save Jota's header.
Miguel Almiron thought he had levelled but the South American's effort was correctly ruled out for offside and despite their efforts after the break, Newcastle failed to trouble a Liverpool back line in which Joe Gomez, in for Trent Alexander-Arnold, excelled.
Jota and Mane both could have given the visitors breathing space but their failure to add to the advantage failed to prove costly as Klopp's men held out comfortably enough with a performance which was far from vintage but more than worthy of the three points. Over to you City.
Dubravka 8; Krafth 6 (Murphy 85, 5), Schar 4 (Lascelles 61, 6), Burn 6, Targett 6; Guimaraes 6, Shelvey 5, Willock 3 (Wood 67, 5); Almiron 5, Joelinton 5, Saint-Maximin 5. Booked: Joelinton.
Alisson 8; Gomez 8, Matip 7, van Dijk 7, Robertson 7; Keita 8, Henderson 6 (Fabinho 69, 6), Milner 8 (Thiago 78, 7); Diaz 7, Jota 7, Mane 7 (Salah 69, 6). Booked: Jota, Gomez, Mane.
Andre Marriner 7
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