Liverpool v Newcastle United: Premier League 1996 – as it happened!

Whoosh! Where did that time go? That was like watching the Chicago Bulls take on the Chicago Bulls. As things stand, Newcastle will haul themselves level on points with Manchester United at the top of the table, an extra game still in hand. Liverpool are 45 minutes away from their faint Premier League hopes being fully extinguished. The thing is, if that breathless first half is anything to go by, anything could yet happen. And it probably will. Stay with us, Matt Dony. Stay with us, everyone. You may regret it forever if you don’t.

45 min +1: Asprilla lays off to Ginola in the centre circle. Ginola plays a first-time pass down the right for Beardsley, who would be through on goal … had James not been perfectly placed to race from his box and get to the ball first, taking it away from Beardsley in the nick of time. That’s fine goalkeeping, and it’s rewarded with a warm round of appreciative applause.

45 min: Redknapp goes for the top left with a curler over the wall, but can’t quite replicate the jaw-dropper he scored against Blackburn Rovers in the last minute of last season.

44 min again: And now they go up the other end and nearly find an equaliser within seconds! The ball’s shuttled left to right by McManaman, Fowler and Collymore to McAteer, racing down the wing. Fowler makes a run to the near post, dragging everyone with him. McAteer dinks to the far post, where McManaman is clear! But his stooping header from close range, with only Srnicek to beat, is useless, squirting back across the face of the six-yard box. However it nearly turns into an accidental assist, Fowler inches away from meeting it with a Houchenesque diving header. Newcastle half clear. Barnes is bundled over by Beresford, just outside the D, and it’ll be a free kick.

44 min: Then almost immediately, Asprilla runs clear again, latching onto a dismal Barnes backpass. He enters the box and then falls to the ground, nudged from behind by Barnes. Tell you what, there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure applied, and you could make a case that Barnes shoulder-charged from the side. But my, my, you’ve seen those given. Liverpool get away with one. A penalty there, and it’d be difficult to see the hosts coming back from 3-1 down.

43 min: Jones and McManaman combine to win a corner off Beardsley down the left. The set piece is worked to Barnes, then Ruddock, who swings one into the mixer from deep. Albert heads it powerfully back towards him … but Asprilla is nearby and gets onto the ball first, turning and taking one touch to his left. Ruddock is out of the game totally; the last man Scales, having over committed, nearly out of it as well! Asprilla tears off into the empty Liverpool half! It’s a footrace between him and Scales. The defender recovers well and wins out, with a little help from the bobbly pitch. He sticks on Asprilla’s right shoulder, denying the striker a shooting opportunity. The ball rears up off a divot, clanks between Asprilla’s ankles, and McAteer arrives to steal it away!

41 min: Batty juggles the ball infield from the left, and nearly finds Asprilla on the edge of the D. For once, Asprilla’s first touch lets him down, and Liverpool clear their lines.

40 min: For the first time this evening, the match slips into something of a lull. Perhaps both teams have puffed themselves out. Maybe we should all go home now. On which subject … “I’m fed up,” writes Matt Dony. “Newcastle going ahead and looking dangerous. I can see it’s an exciting game, but I can only see it going one way. I’ve watched Liverpool lose too many times. I’m gonna turn this off and watch something else for the sake of my sanity.”

38 min: More rococo stylings as Ginola executes a swift dragback, flick and turn out on the left wing, beating McAteer and Barnes with one flourish. He runs slap bang into the beaten Barnes, and wants a free kick, but the ref deems it accidental. Ginola’s not too happy, but not livid either. Bof. This match is being played in a fine spirit.

37 min: Fowler jigs in from the right and lays off to his mate McManaman, who has a dig from distance. His rising shot takes a flick off Batty, and that’s a corner. Liverpool don’t do much with it, and soon Newcastle are breaking dangerously up the left through Beresford and Asprilla. The red defence streams back, and after Asprilla starts throwing a few unnecessarily elaborate shapes out on the flank, the danger is quashed.

36 min: Howey heads harmlessly over from the corner. What sportsmanship by Asprilla, though, with the title on the line.

35 min: Ginola glides down the inside left and draws three red shirts before flicking the ball past them and towards Asprilla, breaking down the channel and into the box. Wright, sliding in – and out of control! – is lucky Asprilla stays honest and upright. The Colombian was entitled to go over the defender’s outstretched leg and claim a penalty. It’d have been given. But instead he elects to stand tall and dink in a cross. His first effort is headed back to him by Scales, the second flashed out by Wright for a corner. In the nick of time, too, with Ferdinand waiting to turn home at the near post.

34 min: Howey pearls a pass down the right for Ferdinand to chase. Ruddock puts himself in the way to usher the ball out for a goal kick. Ferdinand gets a little frustrated and there’s an impromptu wrestling bout, but Ruddock doesn’t seem that interested. Play restarts soon after, and Barnes passes infield from the left towards Collymore, who very nearly opens Newcastle up with a first-time reverse pass down the channel. Srnicek comes out to gather, just in time.

33 min: Newcastle have been quiet for a while. Asprilla and Beardsley try to apply some attacking pressure, albeit daintily, with twinkling toes on the edge of the Liverpool box. But the final pass fails to present itself.

32 min: McManaman dribbles with great purpose down the inside-left channel. He slips Collymore into space on the outside. Collymore tries to return the ball, with McManaman in acres on the edge of the box, but Lee spots the danger and tracks back to intercept. That’s fine football all round.

31 min: Barnes tees up Redknapp, who sends an outside-of-foot screamer wide left from 20 yards. Up the other end, Asprilla and Scales challenge for a high ball, all elbows and hands. It’s a 50-50 flap’n’slap, with no real viciousness or malice, although it momentarily threatens to escalate. Liverpool get the decision, and Asprilla strolls off with a wry smile.

29 min: Barnes probes this way and that. He can’t find the killer ball. Newcastle suddenly spring from deep, Lee and Ginola combining just inside their own half, the latter springing Asprilla clear with a pass pinged down the inside right. But he’s flagged offside, correctly, Wright and Scales having timed their push upfield to perfection. They had to be spot on; there wasn’t much in that.

28 min: Redknapp swings the free kick in deep. Beresford heads weakly out towards Fowler, whose shot is charged down by Albert. Another Liverpool corner. Ruddock gets on the end of it, but can’t power home.

27 min: Liverpool take the corner quickly, the ball breaking to Ruddock, in plenty of space on the edge of the box. He flicks it up with a view to volleying goalwards, but Matthew Le Tissier the big man is not. His clumpish effort is charged down. The ball ends up at the feet of McManaman, out on the left. Batty comes straight through the back of him, a challenge that emphasises the nonsense part of no-nonsense. Into the book he goes, with the Anfield faithful baying for a red. Yellow is the right decision, though McManaman will have certainly felt that.

26 min: Redknapp swings another of his first-time crossfield passes to Jones on the left touchline. Jones one-twos with McManaman, and nearly gets the better of Watson. Had he managed to do so, he’d be breaking into the area with options in the middle. As it is, it’s just a corner.

25 min again: Redknapp and Scales overplay in their final third, allowing Batty to snap in and send Asprilla off towards the box. His first-time flick inside for Ferdinand is overhit, and the chance to break into the penalty area is wasted. Liverpool were very light at the back. Beardsley isn’t giving this up, though, and dribbles down the right, winning a corner by clunking it off Ruddock. Beardsley takes the corner himself. James takes well under pressure from Albert.

25 min: Ginola takes on Fowler and McAteer down by the left-hand corner flag. He nearly bursts through but an escape into the box is too much to ask, even for this twinkle-toed genius. There’s some slapstick as Ginola, flailing and falling, attempts to tap-tackle first Fowler then McAteer, but only manages to plant his visage on the turf. Anfield is on a rolling boil, a bubbling bain-marie of belligerence. The noise is immense. Everyone engaged with every second of the action.

24 min: Collymore drives in from the left and shapes to shoot, but he’s denied on the edge of the box by a quartz-crystal-timed intervention from Watson. This game is unfolding at an absurd pace.

23 min again: And then from the goal kick, Newcastle ship possession and allow Redknapp another blooter on goal. This time his shot is deflected out for a corner on the left. Redknapp takes it himself but it’s not very good. Newcastle clear their lines properly this time.

23 min: Redknapp swings it into the box from deep. Collymore goes up to win a header but misses it. The ball drops to the feet of Fowler, in an inexplicable amount of space on the penalty spot. Fowler doesn’t have too much time, of course – it’s all relative – and having been surprised that the ball got through to him, quickly sorts his feet out and stabs a first-time shot towards the bottom left. It’s beaten Srnicek … but it’s millimetres wide of the post!

22 min: Straight up the other end we go, and McManaman drops a shoulder with a view to dancing past Albert and into the Newcastle box down the inside-right. But Albert crumps him with a perfectly-timed slide tackle. Liverpool come again, Jones probing down the left, but he has his left peg swept away by Beardsley, hysterically challenging from behind. A booking for the former Liverpool player, and a free kick, from which …

21 min: Ginola, a constant menace, sends another diagonal pass in from the left. Ferdinand rises high to the right of the D and nearly cushions his header to the feet of Lee, rushing down the channel. Close, but not quite. James comes out to claim.

20 min: McManaman turns away from three players and into space down the left. He sends Collymore off on another power-wander down the wing. He looks to send another cross in for Fowler, but Newcastle have the bit between the teeth right now, and he’s bustled off the ball by a combination of Howey and Ferdinand. That’s great tracking back by Newcastle’s leading scorer. Goal kick.

19 min: Ginola and Beresford combine to dink the ball past a furious McAteer, who clanks into the latter in irritation. Free kick, from which Ginola probes further down the left wing. McAteer wins this challenge, though, and earns a free kick of his own. Just for a split second, McAteer’s fuse was burning short, but Ginola gives him a friendly stroke of his Merseybeat mop and all’s good again.

18 min: Redknapp tries to kickstart Liverpool back into life. Batty over-commits to a challenge in the centre circle and misses the ball, allowing Redknapp to glide into the space he’s left behind. The Liverpool midfielder mooches down the middle at speed, and takes a shot on early, the best part of 30 yards out. It’s a fantastic effort, rising towards the top right and drifting inches wide of the post. That would have been some goal. Not sure Srnicek, at full stretch, would have got to that had it been on target. We’ve had a whole match’s worth of action already, and we’re not even a quarter in.

17 min: The Newcastle fans are currently “walking in a Keegan wonderland”. It’s party time in the away end. Liverpool have done very little since that early goal.

16 min: A free kick for Newcastle out on the left. Beresford swings it into a loaded box. James comes out to claim with confidence, then gives most of his team-mates a rollocking for something or other. Liverpool look rattled right now, a fact further illustrated when Jones takes his eye off a simple McManaman pass and clumsily runs the ball out of play.

15 min: This is astonishing! What a response from Newcastle to that early Fowler goal. Keegan was up quickly off the bench there, jumping with joy, his fetching burgundy sports jacket flapping in the cool night air. There’s barely a quarter of an hour on the clock, and there have already been six attempts on goal, three of which ending up in the net. Where next? Newcastle’s fans are making enough noise for the entire 40,702-strong crowd, and can you blame them?

… Liverpool try to counter, Jones probing down the left. Lee and Watson combine to strip him of possession. Watson rolls a pass up towards Ferdinand, just to the right of the centre circle. The striker spins and sends a world-class outside-of-the-foot curled pass wide left for Ginola, who runs unchecked into acres of space! Having started his run from inside his own half, he’s not offside, and there’s nobody between him and James in the Liverpool goal! McAteer tries to get back, but Ginola stays one stride ahead, puts his body between defender and ball, and upon entering the box lashes a left-footed shot into the bottom left! Wow.

14 min: … Ferdinand steals the ball from a napping Ruddock down the Newcastle right, and slips inside for Beardsley, who rolls a teaser along the corridor of uncertainty. Liverpool are all over the shop, but there’s nobody in black and white to poke home. And then …

13 min: Newcastle come straight back at Liverpool. Ginola is causing all sorts of problems down the left. Liverpool are struggling to cope with him. His cross is claimed by James, who rolls out to Jones on the Liverpool left. His pass inside leads to some after-you-Claude slapstick between Redknapp and Barnes, and as the Liverpool midfielders clank into each other, Beardsley swans off with the ball. He rolls it down the centre, splitting the Liverpool defence, and Asprilla would have been free were it not for a saucy tug of his shirt by Ruddock. The defender wasn’t the last man, but that should be a yellow card and a free kick in a dangerous position. But the referee gives it the other way! Asprilla complains in the expressive south-American style, but it doesn’t matter too much, because …

12 min: Newcastle are snapping at Liverpool’s heels again. Some top-notch keeganpressing. The hosts are struggling to get out of their final third. Ginola creams another pass infield from the left, Asprilla taking receipt and thinking about taking a shot from the edge of the D, but slipping it to Watson, free in acres, to his right. Watson crosses. James comes off his line and, under pressure from Ferdinand, flappity flaps. But the ball breaks to McAteer, who clears.

11 min: Such skill from Asprilla, though. You can see why Kevin Keegan has decided to take a punt on him. What a talent! And what a striker Ferdinand is: that’s his 27th of the season. The big names are living up to the pre-match hype.

Watson throws in from the right, deep in Liverpool territory. Beardsley cushions a ball down the channel for Asprilla, who turns Ruddock inside out like an old sock. The tastiest nutmeg. He heads for the byline, and pulls back to Ferdinand. The striker’s got his back to goal, eight yards out, and Wright’s on his back. But he takes a touch to make space, and Wright doesn’t close it down. Ferdinand spins and slams a rising shot past James and into the net! Actually, through James might be more accurate, though Ferdinand was so close to goal, and there was such venom in the shot, it’d be churlish to attach too much blame to the much-maligned keeper. He’d have done mighty well to get hands on that.

9 min: Ginola, out on the left near the centre flag, swipes a majestic crossfield pass towards Watson, hugging the opposite flank. Watson can’t get past Jones, but earns a throw, from which …

8 min: Newcastle go straight up the other end, Ginola skittering down the left, drifting inside, and seeking the bottom left with a shot from 20 yards. James gathers. Both sides are really going for this.

7 min: James bowls out to Collymore, to the left of the centre circle. That’s a mighty throw, and Liverpool’s record signing is soon running at Watson and Albert. He shapes to shoot on the edge of the D, hoping to curl one towards the top right, but it’s blocked by Albert.

6 min: Watson flings in a long throw from the right. Ferdinand rises highest, but he’s shoved McAteer in the back to win the header and the whistle goes. Newcastle have absorbed that early blow and are beginning to rediscover their attacking groove.

5 min: Asprilla nearly breaks through down the right but is crowded out. Newcastle are pressing hard, though, plenty of tackles flying in, and soon they win the ball back. Ferdinand strides in from the right, into an absurd pocket of space 20 yards out. It’s a polite invitation to have a dig, and he creams one straight at James, who gathers.

4 min: Collymore is unplayable when he gets the wind behind him. He strides down the middle of the park, ignoring Beardsley en route, and lays off to Fowler on his right. Fowler has McAteer to his right and McManaman in plenty of space on the left, but clanks a directionless pass straight at Beardsley. Newcastle already look dangerously open at the back, like that’s breaking news.

3 min: That’s Fowler’s 34th goal of the season. He’s quite the tyro. Hats off to Redknapp, Jones and Collymore, too. This is a real test now for Newcastle, who have waited so long to get back on the horse, only to suffer an almost immediate setback.

Wright strokes a pass up the right for Fowler. He cuts inside and lays off for Redknapp, who creams a glorious instant diagonal pass wide left for Jones. Liverpool’s left wing-back cushions a first-time ball down the flank for Collymore, who takes a touch to outstrip Watson and, under pressure from Beardsley, whip a sensational ball to the far post. Fowler, on the six-yard line, can’t miss. He heads powerfully down towards the bottom-right corner, poor Srnicek left with no chance as the ball bounces up and high into the net. That’s a peach of a goal, an aesthetic delight, and what a start! One minute and 37 seconds in, and the Anfield cauldron is already bubbling over!

And we’re off! Ferdinand hollers COME ON!!! – he’s waited 11 long days to right the wrongs of the Arsenal defeat – and Newcastle get the ball rolling. Asprilla’s soon testing Scales down the right. Throw. From that, erstwhile Liverpudlian Beardsley whips in and forces Scales to concede the game’s first corner after 29 seconds. A super-fast start that augurs well. Beardsley takes, and Asprilla challenges Wright, the ball squirting wide right. It looks like another corner, but the referee points for a free kick. Or just a goal kick? It’s not clear. Anyway, Liverpool are able to play out from the back, and …

The teams are out! Such a special atmosphere at Anfield tonight. The place is bouncing. No wonder, with so much on the line. We’ll be off before you know it!

On the other channels right now: Esther Rantzen celebrates more unsung do-gooders on Hearts of Gold (BBC1); Warwick and Newcastle universities compete for a place in the semi-finals of University Challenge (BBC2); it’s Ajax v Panathinakios in the semi-final of the Champions League on ITV; and Brookside’s on Channel 4, though that’s not been worth watching since they found the body of Trevor Jordache under the patio. If you’re switching over now, you’ll be able to catch highlights from Anfield on Sportsnight, BBC1, 10.25pm. The programme also has a preview of the upcoming Atlanta Olympics. They’re going to be great, aren’t they!

Today’s front page. Looks like the Tories have stopped squabbling among themselves about Europe at long last. Phew. We can put that one to bed, then. Nice one, Johnny boy! Meanwhile the story on the right is about Pepsi-Cola changing the colour of their cans from predominantly red to blue. May we always live in such uninteresting, mundane, comfortable times!

Liverpool will wear red with an ostentatious white v-neck. It’s their best kit in a while; Adidas owed them one after all those intrusive stripes over the shoulder and around the waist. What on earth were they thinking? Bad Adidas! Naughty Adidas! Ah well, better late than never.

Adidas have done Newcastle proud, too. Their famous black-and-white stripes are rendered in a between-the-wars style with button collar. Hughie Gallacher would have looked damn fine in this shirt. Anyway, there’s plenty of time for a pre-match pint. Shall we nip to the bar? Mine’s a Carlsberg, or failing that a bottle of Newcastle Brown.

Kevin Keegan has been criticised for upsetting the balance of his team with the introduction of Faustino Asprilla, their £7.5m super-signing from Parma. David Batty has come under some light fire too, having displaced Lee Clark in the midfield since his arrival from Blackburn Rovers. Both players keep their place, and Keegan must hope that Asprilla soon forges an understanding with Les Ferdinand, desperately trying to rediscover his goalscoring form of earlier in the season. The only change from the dismal 2-0 defeat at Arsenal: Warren Barton makes way for Steve Watson.

Liverpool meanwhile are in if-it-ain’t broke mode. Roy Evans names the same 11, plus bench, selected last Sunday for the FA Cup breeze past Aston Villa.

Liverpool: David James, Jason McAteer, Mark Wright, John Scales, Neil Ruddock, Rob Jones, Jamie Redknapp, John Barnes, Steve McManaman, Stan Collymore, Robbie Fowler.
Subs: Tony Warner, Steve Harkness, Ian Rush.

Newcastle United: Pavel Srnicek, Steve Watson, Steve Howey, Philippe Albert, John Beresford, Peter Beardsley, David Batty, Robert Lee, David Ginola, Faustino Asprilla, Les Ferdinand.
Subs: Darren Peacock, Keith Gillespie, Lee Clark.

Referee: Mike Reed (Birmingham).

Newcastle United must be starting to question whether the 1995-96 Premier League title is their destiny after all. It sure seemed that way when Kevin Keegan’s entertainers sat 12 points clear of Manchester United just eight weeks ago. But now, after picking up just four points from the last 15 on offer, their advantage has been frittered away, and now they’re three points behind Alex Ferguson’s men. They’ve still got two games in hand, but the margin of error is slight now. They have to convert the contents of their back pocket into points on the board.

They could very much do with a result here tonight at Anfield. That’s far from a pipe dream: they beat Liverpool 2-1 at St James’ Park back in November, then won at Anfield in the League Cup a few weeks later, Steve Watson the unlikely goalscoring hero on both occasions. They look to have Liverpool’s number, and will be hoping to make it three out of three tonight, hauling themselves level with the leaders. That’d put them second on goal difference with a game still in hand, their dream still very much alive.

But defeat tonight would be unthinkable. Liverpool responded marvellously to that League Cup defeat, going on a 20-game unbeaten run that ended only two weekends ago at Nottingham Forest. They immediately got back on the horse with a 3-0 evisceration of Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend, and are high on life right now. They’re also still on the fringes of the title race, eight points behind Manchester United in third. A win tonight would keep their faint hopes alive. But they do need all three points, or it’s pretty much all over for them.

Newcastle by contrast simply need to avoid defeat. A win would be lovely, naturally, but a point at Anfield isn’t to be sniffed at, and would at least ensure they’d still be in control of their own destiny. With the Toon desperate to end their 69-year wait for the league title, and Liverpool drinking in the last-chance saloon, this is effectively a winner-takes-all gunfight. It’s Wednesday evening! It’s live on Sky! It’s on!

Kick off: 8pm.