Following Boxing Day's disappointing 1-1 draw with Blackburn, Liverpool fans must have had the 'oh no, not again' feeling when Newcastle went up 1-0 after 26 minutes of play at Anfield. The goal, which came completely out of nothing, was as awkward as it gets. A Ryan Taylor right foot in-swinger found a Yohann Cabaye glancing header towards goal, which deflected off Daniel Agger's shoulder, wrong stepping goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the process.
The shock of the goal was still fresh in every Liverpool fan's mind when veteran Craig Bellamy, cancelled it out with a well taken right footed strike to the bottom corner of Tim Krul's goal post in the 30th minute
Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat up straight in anticipation of a Liverpool onslaught to finally begin. Nothing followed. The half ended with Liverpool looking more likely, but less threatening than expected.
The second half looked pretty bleak with Liverpool lacking any bite upfront. Newcastle looked much worse. While the Magpies strung passes very well, the failed to create any visible chances, and seemed content to disrupt Liverpool's flow in the middle.
By the 60th minute, Kenny Dalglish had seen enough. The Liverpool Manager decided it was time to bring in the one factor that could change the game - Captain Fantastic. Off came Charlie Adam and on came Steven Gerrard, who was only making his third appearance this season due to a lengthy injury layoff.
In the absence of Luis Suarez, the sight of the Liverpool team captain ignited the fans, energized his team mates and terrorized Newcastle. For the last 30 minutes of the game, Liverpool looked every inch capable of taking all three points.
In just four minutes after his entry, Gerrard found Andy Carroll with a glorious pass inside the Newcastle 18 yard box, only for the former Newcastle number 9 to let everyone down with a poor first touch. Carroll must have been taken by surprised as he clearly looked unprepared to capitalize on the 'platter' opportunity.
Marauding central defender Daniel Agger, decided to take matters into his hands. His 68th minute surge forward resulted in a free kick outside the Newcastle box, as Cheik Tiote brought him down. Craig Bellamy converted the free kick for his second goal of the night.
From then on, it was all Liverpool flying on the wings of captain Steven Gerrard.
In fairness, Newcastle could have easily reset the game when Demba Ba saw his delicate chip over the onrushing Pepe Reina cleared off the line by Martin Skrtel in the 69th minute.
With the lead still intact, Gerrard again found Carroll with a pinpointed cross, and this time the tall striker didn't disappoint. He met Gerrard's cross with a firm header that beat Tim Krul, only to watch the ball cannon off the bar in the 72nd minute.
Finally, in the 78th minute, talismanic Gerrard put the game to bed, finishing close from a good Henderson through ball.
All together a veterans effort for Liverpool as thirty-something Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt came off the bench to compliment another aging star - thirty-three year old Craig Bellamy.
Alan Hansen, the former Liverpool man may have made the mistake in thinking that clubs could not win with kids (Alex Ferguson's 'kids' proved him wrong).
But there is no question in anyone's mind that veterans can win. A bunch of old men proved it tonight for Liverpool.
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