Newcastle rally for point

Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Liverpool and earn a potentially vital point in their fight against Premier League relegation.

The hosts were without defender Mamadou Sakho following the pre-match announcement that he is being investigated by UEFA for a possible anti-doping violation.

However, they looked to be on their way to a comfortable victory as Daniel Sturridge scored after just 68 seconds and Adam Lallana added a fine second on the half-hour mark.

But Newcastle battled back impressively after the break, with Papiss Cisse heading home a few minutes after the restart and Jack Colback equalising with a deflected shot after 66 minutes.

While the Magpies could not go on to grab a winner, the point moves them level with Sunderland and one point behind 17th-placed Norwich.

Although Sunderland have two games in hand on the Magpies and the Canaries have one, Benitez will be buoyed by his side’s battling display after they looked to be out of the game at half-time.

Perhaps with one eye on the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal on Thursday, Jurgen Klopp made five changes to his Liverpool side, with Philippe Coutinho dropped to the substitutes’ bench.

Newcastle stuck with the same starting XI that drew against Manchester City in midweek, but they found themselves behind after 68 seconds as Sturridge chested down a long ball, turned and …

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