James Milner pointed out his side’s inability to pounce upon numerous goalscoring opportunities at St. James’ Park on Wednesday evening as Liverpool FC were held to a goalless stalemate by bottom-half opponents Newcastle United.
Milner was handed a rare start in the Reds midfield by Jurgen Klopp, and despite a good defensive display of their own from the Premier League holders, Milner and Co. were unable to break down a springy Magpies backline which was led by a fantastic show of goalkeeping from Karl Darlow.
Speaking to Liverpool FC’s official website in the aftermath of the midweek fixture, Milner admitted that lack of sharp finishing cost them the chance to secure all three points on the road to extend their lead further at the top of the Premier League table.
“I think the performance was pretty good, bouncing back from the second half in the last game, which wasn’t particularly good, and then putting in a pretty good performance tonight.”
“We created enough chances, [were] solid at the back, any balls that popped out we were winning. But a mixture of good goalkeeping, defending, a bit of bad luck and maybe not taking our chances well enough was the difference.”
Klopp’s men had decent chances to clinch a win on the road to bring about a turnaround in their faltering run of form away from home but Darlow’s superb display between the sticks for the Magpies, coupled with another off day in front of the goal for the Mohammad Salah-led frontline helped Steve Bruce’s men salvage a hard-earned point.
