Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe calls Liverpool equaliser 'unjust' as Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp praises Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool were 3-1 winners against Newcastle in the Premier League; Diogo Jota equalised with Isaac Hayden down inside the six-yard box clutching his head; Eddie Howe: "It's had a huge bearing on the game"; Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a stunning late third from range

Friday 17 December 2021 12:56, UK

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has called Diogo Jota's equaliser for Liverpool on Thursday "unjust", with Isaac Hayden injured in the build-up.

Liverpool were 3-1 winners against Newcastle in their Premier League encounter at Anfield, but there was controversy in the first half as Jota cancelled out Jonjo Shelvey's opener.

Hayden and Fabian Schar had both gone down after being caught in the middle of a huddle as a Liverpool corner was delivered, with Hayden staying down and appearing to clutch his head.

However, play continued as Jota scored, much to the dismay of Newcastle. Despite valid protests, the goal stood. Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold went on to score in the remainder of the game.

Reflecting on the equaliser, Howe said: "I'm really disappointed with Liverpool's first goal. I need to see it again but it was clear to me that Isaac went down holding his head immediately. In my opinion, the game should have been stopped.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing... There is a lot of talk at the moment about head injuries and I felt that was a wrong decision.

"It's had a huge bearing on the game. We had the lead. It feels unjust and I feel it was doubly hard on our players.

"I think [the referee Mike Dean] said to me he felt Isaac had held his back. For me, he held his head. He was dazed for four or five minutes. It's a dangerous moment where we have to think about the player's safety. I don't think you want to see games decided when players are out of the game.

"I feel like we were really harshly treated today. It follows a similar pattern of games we've had where the decisions have gone against us for whatever reason.

"My feeling is the first goal and the decision for that had the key bearing on the result today and that's the one that really aggrieves me tonight."

Clarifying his comment on Hayden being "dazed for four or five minutes", Howe added: "I think you can see with the fact he had treatment to the side of the pitch, that was where I made the comment from. You could see he was treated, then taken to the side and he still didn't look 100 per cent himself.

"I've not spoken to Isaac after the game to see if there's any lasting damage from the challenge, but he didn't look in a good place. He immediately held his head, there was no acting. He was down and he couldn't continue and we paid the price for it."

But the overall performance was positive for Newcastle, with Howe reflecting: "The players really gave everything to the game physically. You could see that, Liverpool move the ball very fast and we had to work very hard to contain them, but I felt the players delivered that very well. We scored a great goal on the counter-attack, Maxi was a threat in isolated moments in the game when we managed to feed him with the ball.

"I'm probably disappointed with the second half on the ball. I felt we could have shown a bit more composure to open them up in those moments when we were in transitions.

"But in terms of what the players gave and their attitude and commitment to it, I thought we had a mentality about us today that we had against Leicester where we were right in the game until the end. I felt at any moment, we could get something today."

Klopp: Trent technique on a different level

Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, was full of praise for Alexander-Arnold after his sensational late third goal. The right-back took one touch before thundering home from 25 yards.

The Liverpool manager told BT Sport: "It was a stunner, unbelievable. His shooting technique is absolutely different level. In games like this, staying positive, staying offensive-minded in moments like this, just take the chance. Thank God Mike Dean is good on his legs so he could get out of the way!"

Before the game, Liverpool revealed Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones had tested positive for Covid-19, with the former two set to start.

Elaborating on the situation, Klopp said: "The situation is difficult for us, for the whole world. We pretty much woke up this morning with three positive cases, which is obviously not too cool. We're waiting for the confirmation because there is still the possibility of a false positive but, for today, we couldn't wait for that and we had to make the decision to send the boys home.

"Two of them would have started today, but it was not a reason to cancel a game tonight or to even ask for it, but we'll see how it now develops.

"This virus is now around us for so long that it's not really likely that it will stay at three because the boys don't have a lot of spare time wherever they could pick it up. Most of them are fully vaccinated and two of them have already had the booster, and it can still happen. That's just how it is.

"We have a really good chance of them getting through it now without proper symptoms, they have no symptoms, they were more surprised than us that they had it. But that's what you have to accept and hopefully they are quickly back again."

However, he distanced himself from the Jota equaliser debate, adding: "I didn't see it back. Both got up later. I'm not saying it's like this situation, but really quite frequently players go down in the box when they lose a challenge, but I don't know, I couldn't see it. The assistant on my side told me it was all good, that two players on the same team came together."

Alexander-Arnold: I've been waiting for that

Man-of-the-moment Alexander-Arnold said he had been waiting for a goal of that calibre for a long time, but insists Liverpool did not cheat when it came to their equaliser.

He told BT Sport: "I've been waiting for that [type of goal] for five years. I've had a few ones from the edge of the box and dragged them. I've caught that one sweet and it nestled in the top corner, a sweet strike and put the game to bed."

On the Hayden incident, he said: "You're not really looking at who's on the ground, who's up. But if it's a head injury, it's down to the referee to stop it. He didn't. We played to the whistle and scored. We didn't cheat or do anything unsportsmanlike."

The result sees Liverpool back within a point of leaders Manchester City. However, they have opened up a three-point gap over Chelsea, who dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Everton.

Alexander-Arnold added: "You don't want the teams around you doing well but the focus is on us. It's about making sure we're consistent and winning every game we can. The games come thick and fast so any minor slip can prove costly come April or May.

"Until we're told otherwise, we'll be in there every day [training] and making sure we're fit for Sunday, a big game against Tottenham."

What's next?

Liverpool are at Tottenham on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League at 4.30pm, while Newcastle host Man City at 2.15pm on Super Sunday, also live on Sky Sports Premier League.

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