Liverpool, long in doubt, jumped at the opportunity to widen the gap at the top of the table by largely beating Newcastle 4-2 on matchday 20 at Anfield on Monday.
The Liverpool Reds are now three points ahead of second-placed Aston Villa and are five lengths ahead of Arsenal, who were beaten the previous day. Manchester City are also five points behind but still have a game in hand.
Under the eyes of John Barnes, the club legend of the 1990s, who also passed through Newcastle, the Reds extended their invincibility in the league, which had lasted since the end of September and a defeat at Tottenham (2-1), and then reconciled themselves with their audience the frustrating draw at home against Arsenal (1-1).
However, this success was a long time coming as Liverpool's attackers proved unable to deceive Martin Dubravka, Nick Pope's understudy, who had been off the field since early December. The Slovakian goalkeeper saved his team in quick succession with reflex saves against Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones (11th, 12th) before fending off a penalty from Mo Salah (22nd).
But the Egyptian striker took the lead from the start (49') in his last league game before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations, before equalizing with another penalty at the end of the game (86').
With 14 goals, he is at the top of the Premier League top scorers list alongside Norwegian Erling Haaland.
Six goals in one half
In the first act, the Reds put strong pressure on the opposing camp. At the end of a great collective effort, Luis Diaz, who had dried up in the penalty area, offered Salah the opportunity to put his team in the lead, but his attempt was saved by the Magpies goalkeeper and Alexander-Arnold, who was on guard, missed the chance Goal (22nd).
In the middle of the attack, Newcastle sent a long shower through the bays of Anfield in one of its rare appearances outside its bases: on a low recovery phase, the goal of its captain Dan Burn was finally canceled after recourse to video at the end of a quick transition (36th). .
It was a miracle that Newcastle returned to the dressing room with a goalless draw despite conceding 18 shots and only having one to their name.
Everything came to a head in the second act. Excellent work from Luis Diaz, who fixed the defense before moving Nunez, whose center was victoriously taken over by Salah (49th).
Although Liverpool failed to cover despite three attempts from Nunez in just over a minute, they were punished by Alexander Isak, who fired a shot from behind the defense into Allison Becker's opponent's goal (54th).
Given the ineffectiveness of his attackers, Klopp changed everything to revitalize his attack, using Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch at the same time.
Immediate effect or not, the Reds found the mistake through Curtis Jones, who was served by new signing Jota (74th).
Four minutes later, Gakpo served Salah's outside left-footer past Dubravka (78'), giving the Reds their first break.
But Eddie Howe's players didn't give up and were rewarded with a corner from Sven Botman (81').
No doubt about Anfield, as in this fun game a generous penalty allowed Salah to seal victory for the strong Premier League leaders five minutes from time.