After seeing several of Newcastle United’s on-pitch contingent actively time wasting throughout their encounter with Liverpool in the English top-flight, Reds fans could be forgiven for feeling the result more than justified the lack of sportsmanship shown by their opponents.
Commenting on the matter after the game, Alan Shearer took to Twitter to express his disgruntlement at Andre Marriner’s supposed failure to blow the whistle within the five-minute limit of added time.
Such a stance ignores the fact that the undesirable actions of the visitors evidently added up to an amount of time that exceeded the recommended batch of extra minutes.
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Losing so late in the game, we have to express some sympathy for the Magpies’ away support for the timing of our 20-year-old’s late winner.
Though, perhaps it might stand as a useful lesson to sides hoping to kill any momentum in a game by repeatedly opting for unsavoury tactics throughout proceedings.
We were far from being our usual excellent selves, of course, and that will present fresh concerns for Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff.
Nonetheless, it feels like a victory of some significance as we look to get our season back on track amid ongoing criticism over our lack of further business in the summer transfer market.