Liverpool: James, Kvarme, McAteer, Wright, McManaman,
Fowler, Barnes, Redknapp, Berger, Bjornebye, Matteo.
Subs Not Used: Collymore, Harkness, Warner, Ruddock, Kennedy.
Booked: McManaman.
Goals: McManaman 29, Berger 30, Fowler 42, 90.
Newcastle: Hislop, Barton, Batty, Peacock,
Beardsley (Ferdinand 45), Asprilla, Gillespie, Watson, Clark
(Ginola 45), Elliott, Albert, Ferdinand (Crawford 56).
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Beresford.
Booked: Gillespie, Batty.
Goals: Asprilla 87, Barton 88, Gillespie 71.
Att: 40,751
Ref: D R Elleray (Harrow-on-the-Hill).
By Rob King, PA Sport Football Correspondent
Who said lightning never strikes the same place twice? Robbie Fowler soared like a hawk in the second minute of injury time to give Liverpool a dramatic 4-3 win over rivals Newcastle. That is exactly how it finished 11 months ago but though this seven-goal thriller was a very different affair, its importance will be just as crucial as Roy Evans' men race onto the heels of leaders Manchester United, just a point behind.
For the Geordies, defeat spells the end of their own title dreams, a fifth away defeat leaving them nine points adrift. But for manager Kenny Dalglish this was an emotional return to his old stamping ground which plumbed depths and the heights, but ended in almost disbelief. He suffered the greatest insult of his a managerial life when a Newcastle fan threw his black and white shirt in his face in disgust as his side seemed to throw away their chance in an abject first half. But he finished looking for a well-deserved grovelling apology after his side battled back to 3-3 with goals from Faustino Asprilla and Warren Barton in the last three minutes.
That should have been it, but then Stig Bjornebye raced down the left and pumped a high ball into the middle. Little Fowler outjumped everyone to steer his second goal of the game past a stunned Shaka Hislop and history had repeated itself. To be fair, it was probably Liverpool boss Roy Evans who ended the game feeling like throwing himself in the Mersey. He said he would settle for a repeat of last April's scoreline but will have nightmares about the cavalier way Liverpool sacrificed a winning lead.
The Newcastle fan had it right as his side produced the most abject 75 minutes anyone can remember. Dalglish has never won at Anfield as a visiting manager, but he took Liverpool to three championships, and this was ground on which he completed Blackburn's revival with the league crown in 1995. But a heavy first-half humiliation -- initiated by the current possessor of his famous number seven shirt, Steve McManaman -- was too much too bear for the Geordies who believed they were witnessing more than just the end of their own title dream. Their side's craven surrender also marked the internment of the last vestiges of the romance and bravado the original Merseyside icon Kevin Keegan brought to the game. A year ago he brought a side brimming with attacking instinct and excitement to fully contribute to the game of the season. This time his pragmatic successor took a niggardly view, lining up with a miserly 4-5-1 in the absence of Alan Shearer and with Les Ferdinand still not fully fit.
Such pessimism invited punishment and when McManaman and Patrik Berger scored in the space of 70 seconds midway through the first half, followed by Robbie Fowler's 24th, the £60million pre-season favourites looked dead and buried. The visitor ripped off a shirt no fans wear with greater pride, jumped over the barrier at the Anfield end, ran down the touchline and flung it with immense symbolism at Dalglish.
There was worse to come, a half-time gamble on Ferdinand which badly misfired when the England striker limped back to the treatment room after just 11 minutes and the sight of yet another Liverpool favourite, Peter Beardsley, made the scapegoat by Dalglish. Like Blackburn, Newcastle have become a club too heavily dependent on Shearer and suffer in his absence, there is clearly dressing room dissent, articulated by unsettled Frenchman David Ginola, and they showed a defeatist attitude that was unprecedented in Keegan's reign. Not until the ever-eager Keith Gillespie conjured a goal out of nothing in the 70th minute did they rediscover the pride and passion.
Then Asprilla punished Redknapp's mistake to lob in an improbable second in the 87th minute and mission impossible was completed a minute later when Barton bundled over after the ball broke loose from the Colombian's challenge on a shell-shocked David James.
Liverpool needed a last-minute goal from Robbie Fowler to keep them in the Premiership title race tonight after conceding a three-goal lead to Newcastle at Anfield. Roy Evans' side looked to be cruising to a comfortable three points to take them back to within a point of League leaders Manchester United after Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and Patrik Berger gave them a 3-0 half-time advantage.
But Newcastle, who were also beaten 4-3 in the same fixture last season, drew level with goals from Keith Gillespie, Faustino Asprilla and Warren Barton, before Fowler delivered the killer blow seconds from time.
Fowler said: "That was a funny game where we have gone into a 3-0 lead and then they have come back. Then we have got another goal in the last minute. "If we want to win the League, we have got to win games at Anfield and over the last few games we have not been doing that. When it was 3-3 I thought 'that's it' but we got another goal which puts us back in the race." But the Anfield striker refuses to rule Newcastle out of the title chase, despite Liverpool's eight-point advantage over them. They also boast a five-point lead over third-placed Arsenal. "There's a lot of games to go and you don't know what's going to happen," he said.
Man-of-the-match McManaman could hardly believe his eyes when Barton scored Newcastle's equaliser and admitted his only feeling was "disbelief" when Fowler hit the late, late matchwinner. "I think it was down to our mistakes really a few silly mistakes, a few stray balls," he said. "We controlled the second half then with 15 minutes left our passing became a little bit sloppy. We are upset really because we had the game won with 20 minutes to go. We're upset that it got that close at the end." But with nine Premiership games to go, the England winger believes Liverpool's title ambitions are in their own hands. "We've got a lot of hard games coming up," he added. "We've got Everton, we've got to play Arsenal and Manchester United. The main thing is we won tonight."
Evans, angry at seeing his side give away their 3-0 lead, fumed: "I'm not happy at all. "The first half we were absolutely fantastic. We closed them down, we were quick with our passing and probed all around the pitch we got our rewards. At half-time, you know after we had the Chelsea affair, we said it's important that we go out there and keep the pressure on them up their end of the pitch. "But people started over-elaborating, keeping the ball when they should have been passing it and we caused ourselves problems. "You've got to be professional about the game. We were ahead, we didn't have to go creating much more, we can keep it tight but then we go and start giving goals away. I thought it may finish 4-3 to them! "We play a patient game and you have to put them under pressure, winning balls off their midfielders close to their goal. Even if you have to wait 90 minutes, I'm happy, but I thought the first half was different class." Evans admitted: "I'm delighted with the result, I'm delighted with the points because it keeps us right in there. What I'm not happy about is that they even had a sniff because they only had four or five attacks really."
A doleful Kenny Dalglish said: "On the positive side, there's not many teams that come here and come back from 3-0 down to go 3-3 and go as close as we did to getting a point. "But I think as well as Liverpool played and as badly we played, we shot ourselves in the foot and maybe did it once too often to get anything from the game. "I've not learned anything new about my team that I didn't know before but obviously we'll try to be constructive with the criticism and keep it indoors. There was a lot of things there that just weren't right if you're going to be successful as a football club."
Dalglish refused to blame injuries to his first-choice frontmen Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand for the defeat and added: "That's part and parcel of football isn't it? That's why you have squads. "It would have been a lot better for Newcastle if Alan and Les had been fit but they weren't, and that's part of life. But you can't start using that as excuses we never played well. We nearly got ourselves out of jail getting back to 3-3, but they got the winner." Ferdinand came on as substitute at half-time for Peter Beardsley, but lasted only 11 minutes before being replaced by Irish youngster Jimmy Crawford because of his hamstring injury. Dalglish added: "I don't know if it's serious or not, but it's a setback and that's why he was substituted. If we could have got away with it, we would have.
Our reservations before the game were only borne out after the game unfortunately. "As long as there are points there to be played for, we will be there and we will do our best to win them. We nearly won one tonight unfortunately we didn't. Liverpool were the better side and they deserved the three points."
Liverpool's incredible victory over Newcastle tonight has seen their odds for the Premiership slashed to 2/1 from 4/1 by Ladbrokes, with Manchester United pushed out to 1/2 from 1/3. Newcastle have slipped to 25/1 from 10/1 with Arsenal the only other realistic challengers remaining 12/1.
You just have to read Jaron Collis' Eyewitness Report. It really says it all. That's exactly how I felt!