29 mins Matt Ritchie's headed clearance fell to Philippe Coutinho lurking outside the Gallowgate End area and he accelerated away from Javier Manquillo and cut inside before unleashing a venomous strike as Jonjo Shelvey moved to close him down. The ball flew between Rob Elliot and his near post en route to the top corner goal. Simply unstoppable. 0-1

36 mins Taking possession in central midfield, Shelvey spotted Joselu heading over halfway and found him with an excellent pass that set him through on goal. Of the two pursuing defenders, Joel Matip got closest to him and looked to have intercepted the Newcastle man before he shot.

The ball still ended up in the back of the net though; replays showing that Matip's clearance had struck Joselu on the shin and deflected past Simon Mignolet from 10 yards. 1-1

Half time: Magpies 1 Reds 1

Full time: Magpies 1 Reds 1

Rafa Benitez:
 

"If you had asked me at the start of the season if I was happy with this, maybe I would have said yes, but now, we have had two games that we lost that we deserved more. 

"It could have been an even better start, but I don’t want to be greedy, so I will take what we have got.

"When you get just one point at home we cannot be happy but against a top-six side like Liverpool, creating so many chances, you have to be a little bit happy. 

"The way our players were working, tackling and trying to win every ball was fantastic.

"We have two or three situations when we could be more composed on the ball but we lost these situations. This could make a difference. If we can score then they are under pressure and can make mistakes.

"I liked the way they were working, the understanding of what we needed to do and against a good team.

"We knew we needed to do this and that, but we could not as they are a good team and were on top of us. But more than anything, the team spirit.

"I was really pleased to play this type of game as when you see where Liverpool is now, the fantastic support that they have, the quality of the squad, a great manager, so a lot of things you can see from them that is positive.

"I'm really pleased to get a draw with them and hopefully we can continue and then go to Anfield and get something more.

On Shelvey:

"It is not fair just to talk about one player, everybody was working very hard and Jonjo was one of these players. So if he is working like today, then he will have more chances (with the England national side) for sure.

On the banner & the fans:

"The banner said they support me, they will be with me and they trust me. I was really pleased because, the relationship is very good and it was with both fans (away fans also sang Rafa's name during the game), so I’m very pleased. 

"It is not what you are expecting when you go to a club, but if you give everything they fans give you everything. It is not just me, it is the way they are behind the team they give the team an extra 5%.”
 

They Said

Jurgen Klopp said:

"We should have won. We were the better side and created more chances but you know we have a real problem because we have to play better next game, otherwise we will not get a point.

"It was a good pass for Newcastle’s goal, at the right moment. For me it looked like the centre-halves didn’t see the ball with Shelvey because two or three players are in front of them. If they see it they have to make a step and Joselu is offside. In the end it is unlucky.

"We are in very promising situations and we don’t score. That, of course, is a problem but it will not stay like this. I know, I am long enough around football.

"There are different ways to get one win in seven. You can play really bad and lose a lot of games or you play more than a few games really, really good. 

"Most of the games actually we were the better side but a few chances are enough for the opponent to score and we need a lot more and in the end we have had the same number of goals. That happens too often in the last few weeks, of course.

"The boys will go away and we all feel not perfect in that moment and by the way the main problem is not only that football is not fair, people write about it and the boys read it and it makes it even worse. You have a point but it feels like you have lost.

"I have not seen a drop in confidence from the players. It is our duty to be confident because the boys have the quality.

"What is my job? Say, ‘Mo, don’t do that next time and Daniel please have a look next time’? They know that and they will do that next time.

"We have our hard moment now but other teams will have their hard moment. We need to work on our thing and I really think it looks like we are not far away from a real challenge. If we do what we are good at, we don’t have to think about other teams and we will close the gap."

 

Feared by some as the game in which a dose of reality would be injected into our season, the visit of Liverpool to Tyneside proved instead to be an endorsement of United's top-flight credentials - and another opportunity taken to provide public backing to their Manager.  

The tactics employed to ensure the Reds left Gallowgate without three points for the fourth time in succession may not always have been the most positive, but the diligent way in which the home players stuck to their allotted tasks brought a level of reassurance. We often don't do organised.

Along with Rob Elliot, messrs Henderson, Coutinho and Sturridge were veterans of that awful day here in April 2013 when the visitors scored six times without reply and Alan Pardew's side were a collective disgrace, "meek and gutless" in our own words.  

Jonjo Shelvey had arrived on the field for Liverpool that day when the scoring was concluded, but was restored to the Newcastle lineup against his old side, partnering Mikel Merino in the centre for the first time as Issac Hayden dropped to the bench.

It was Shelvey's vision that created a opening for his side at the perfect time to maintain belief, shortly after Coutinho's first goal against United had spectacularly put the visitors ahead.    

A lucky deflection meant that ball ended up in the back of the Liverpool net, but on such moments are Premier League places gained and lost - for example: Damien Duff, Villa Park, May 24th 2009. 

The black and whites also rode their luck at the back on several occasions, Gini Wijnaldum almost marking his return to Gallowgate by finally scoring away from home, only to strike the goal frame.

For the majority of the afternoon though the Dutchman was an unthreatening as he'd been on the road for us and attracted hardly any barracking, unlike his mackem mate Henderson - seemingly lining up a post-playing career as a referee after attempting to do Pawson's job for him here.... 

A mis-kick from Ciaran Clark on 50 minutes almost gifted a chance to our perennial nemesis Daniel Sturridge - only for Elliot to save and Mohamed Salah put the rebound over the Leazes crossbar.

Shelvey was then back to clear Dejan Lovren's header off the line as he rose to meet a corner at the back post before substitute Dominic Solanke went close with a header from Coutinho's cross.

Having kept a lid on Liverpool for most of the second half, a few excursions upfield by United late on boosted the noise levels. And a perfectly-executed smash and grab operation was thwarted when substitute Mo Diame's half-hot shot from a corner hit Lovren's arm en route to goal - although a penalty would have been harsh in the extreme. 

A point - which we probably should have collected at Brighton a week earlier - meant that Rafa's side retained ninth position in the table ahead of the international break. 

We remain a work in progress, with potential weak spots down both flanks and Ayoze Perez once again dividing opinion as to his effectiveness.

For a side just back in the Premier League though ninth is a decent return, as was a draw today. 

Biffa