Nick Pope’s Carabao Cup final dream went up in smoke as Liverpool put themselves back into the race for the top four with a 2-0 win at Newcastle.
The England goalkeeper was dismissed 22 minutes into a pulsating Premier League contest at St James’ Park for handling the ball outside his penalty area and will be suspended for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United at Wembley.
Newcastle’s hopes of extending their unbeaten league run to a club-record 18 games had taken a hit earlier in the game as goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo inside the opening 17 minutes gave the visitors an comfortbale lead.
Liverpool remain the only side to beat Newcastle in the league this season and ruthlessly exploited the space behind central defenders Fabian Schar and Sven Botman to run out 2-0 winners.
Victory saw Jurgen Klopp’s side move just six points behind their fourth-placed opponents with a game in hand.
Relive the action as Liverpool defeated Newcastle at St. James’ Park:
