Jamie Carragher was thrilled by what he saw from Newcastle striker Salomon Rondon in Liverpool’s 3-2 win at St James’ Park.
Rondon scored the second Newcastle goal and was a constant thorn in Liverpool’s side, but in the end his performance was in vain.
Divock Origi scored a late winner after a controversial free-kick, with Fabinho looking like he went down without any contact.
Talking on the live Sky Sports commentary of the game (Saturday, 7pm), Carragher was quick to praise Rondon for what he saw.
“He’s been excellent all night, Rondon. I’ve said all night he could be the man to cause Liverpool problems. He’s been right on it all night.
“What a finish on that left foot from Rondon. A massive goal in the title race.”
OPINION
Rondon has been showing why Rafa Benitez was so keen on landing him this season. The 29-year-old has scored 10 goals now and added seven assists in just 30 Premier League games, but it’s his overall game that works so well for Newcastle. He almost cost Liverpool a realistic shot at the title on Saturday evening with a thundering striker that left Alisson no chance and could easily have had another. Newcastle fans would love to see him make a permanent move in the summer but there’s been talk that Mike Ashley doesn’t want to spend £17million on a player that old. That would be a really bad stance to take. Newcastle have struggled with finding a good striker for a long time. Now they’ve got one they surely don’t want to let him go? Benitez has to make a decision on a new contract this summer and if we were him we’d make signing Rondon a key condition of getting his signature.