Naby Keita registered a few new records in the Premier League after netting the only goal that separated Liverpool from Newcastle United at St James’ Park Stadium on Saturday.
Keita's winner – in the 19th minute - is Liverpool’s earliest goal in a Premier League game they won 1-0 since December 2016 against Manchester City, when Gini Wijnaldum scored after eight minutes.
Additionally, all of Keita’s seven league goals for the Reds have been scored against a different opponent - only David N'Gog and Titi Camara (both nine) have scored more goals in the competition for the Reds without scoring more than once against any side.
Meanwhile, Liverpool could have easily scored the opener early but Virgil van Dijk wasted their best chance in the opening 10 minutes. The towering centre-back, while in some space in the box, met a corner delivered from the right-hand side, but his volleyed shot went over the crossbar.
The Reds took the lead when Keita found the back of the net with a neat finish. After a combination with Diogo Jota, the Guinea international rounded Martin Dubravka and a number of his defenders before he struck to put the Merseyside club in front.
Although the Magpies protested against the goal, claiming there was a foul in the build-up, Keita’s goal stood after the VAR’s check.
Sadio Mane missed a chance to double their lead when he had only Dubravka to beat and score. Mane was spotted by Luis Diaz after a counter-attack, but the Senegal star failed to find his target while in acres of space.
Moments after Mane failed to score, Newcastle struck, but their goal did not stand as the offside flag was raised. Miguel Almiron, after finding his way past Liverpool’s defenders, found the back of the net, but his effort was ruled out for offside after replays showed he was beyond the last defender when the initial ball was played.
When the second half started, Dubravka made critical saves to protect his side from conceding again. After Jota ran to meet a through-ball, on the far side of the box, the Newcastle goalkeeper managed to palm the striker’s effort back into play before he collected a follow-up effort.
Mane failed again to put the ball into the back of the net despite being in a great place to score at the near post. After he was set through on goal by Joe Gomez, the forward sent his effort wide from six yards out.
In the 69th minute, Mane was replaced by Mohamed Salah, and the Egyptian almost grabbed a goal with his first action in the showdown. Diaz did a superb job on the left as his deflected effort landed on Salah’s path, but Dubravka managed to get a slight touch of the ball and finally managed to clear the danger.
Liverpool managed to hold onto the 1-0 lead and squeeze critical points against their hosts, who suffered their first league loss at St James’ Park since mid-December, ending their eight-game unbeaten run and six-game winning streak on home soil in the competition.
The Merseyside club have now kept 21 clean sheets in this season’s Premier League, more than any other side
Only in 2005-06 (22) have the Reds kept more shutouts in a single Premier League campaign.
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