Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle United: Szoboszlai and Mac Allister on target as champions elect down Magpies to move one step closer to Premier League glory | OneFootball

Liverpool secured yet another win to continue their relentless Premier League title pursuit courtesy of a 2-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday.

The Reds secured a routine 2-0 triumph over defending champions Manchester City last time out, while Newcastle just about edged out Nottingham Forest in a seven-goal thriller.

With manager Arne Slot watching from the stands, Liverpool needed just 10 minutes to open the scoring through Dominik Szoboszlai, who was on target for the second game running, firing home past Nick Pope via the legs of Dan Burn.

Having previously fluffed a glorious opportunity to level matters before being adjudged to be offside by the linesman, Callum Wilson was in on goal once again right on the half-hour mark but sent his effort wide of the target.

Buoyed by his opener, Szoboszlai came close to doubling his tally for the day nine minutes from the interval when he curled an attempt past Pope’s right-hand post.

Mohamed Salah cut a peripheral figure for large spells of the first half before finally having his first crack at goal in the 39th minute, albeit with no real threat posed.

That was the final meaningful attack of note in the first half as Liverpool headed into the locker room with a narrow advantage.

A pedestrian start to the second 45 minutes saw both teams fail to really test the opposing goalkeeper, but the half’s first significant moment would come three minutes past the hour mark as Alexis Mac Allister doubled Liverpool’s lead with a fierce shot from inside the box.

Setting up Mac Allister’s strike, Salah recorded his 17th assist of the season to move within three of Thierry Henry’s record of 20.

Now two goals behind, Newcastle responded by bringing on four substitutes as they looked to get themselves back in the contest.

Salah came close to setting up a second goal of the night 17 minutes from time when he located Luis Diaz with a delightful outside-of-the-boot cross to the far post, but the Colombian was unable to guide his effort home.

Off the back of eight straight matches with at least a goal, Salah was not willing to let his scoring streak end without a fight and called Pope into action in the 88th minute.

Looking to continue their set-piece exploits from last time out, Liverpool had the ball in the back of the net for a third time, but Gakpo’s goal was ruled out for a foul on Pope.

Gakpo took another pop at the Newcastle goal in second-half stoppage time, although the 25-year-old was unable to get his effort on target this time around.

Liverpool continued to probe in search of a third goal but had to settle for a 2-0 victory to move 13 points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League table.

A mouth-watering Champions clash against Paris Saint-Germain awaits the Merseysiders on Wednesday before they welcome Southampton to Anfield three days later.