Robert casts Liverpool into the shadows

Newcastle United 1 - Liverpool

Amid a sweeping hailstorm, a perfect curling free-kick from Laurent Robert illuminated a match that otherwise was very disappointing - even painful - watching.

Amid a sweeping hailstorm, a perfect curling free-kick from Laurent Robert illuminated a match that otherwise was very disappointing - even painful - watching.

The only goal owed much to Robert's dead-ball skills but also an awful lot to Alan Shearer's cunning. In the 70th minute, with the game frozen in an arctic gale and a dreadful deadlock, Shearer backed into Mauricio Pellegrino. The 34-year-old Argentinian, making only his fourth appearance, protested vehemently, but a free-kick was awarded. It was outside the corner of the box and a difficult angle, but the self-absorbed Robert took it on. He wafted it beautifully over the wall, beyond the out-stretched arm of the debutant goalkeeper Scott Carson and into the top corner of the net. It was his fourth of the season - all free-kicks.

"It was a very special goal and we will talk about it, quite rightly so, but I think he contributed in every other way" said his manager Graeme Souness.

"It's a love-hate relationship between us but I'm happy with him at the moment and long may it continue if he scores goals like that."

Carson, 19 and £750,000 from Leeds, was playing because Jerzy Dudek was fit enough only for the bench. Djimi Traore, Dietmar Hamann, Fernando Morientes and Harry Kewell were missing as Liverpool licked their wounds after their Carling Cup Final defeat. Steven Gerrard had had salt rubbed into his sores by radio rant-ins and was generally ineffective in an anonymous midfield.

So the table this morning will make even more painful reading than yesterday's watching for Liverpool supporters. It shows that Everton have the chance this afternoon to put the last Champions' League place 11 points beyond their rivals' grasp.

"It will be very difficult to close the gap" said the Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez. "It's a difficult moment for us, but we have an important game next week in the Champions' League and we need to work hard because three points in each game is a lot."

Playing unfamiliar faces in an unfamiliar formation, Liverpool had the best of the opening 20 minutes against an error-prone Newcastle. But then Carson, in his first meaningful action, elected to punch Robert's corner. Lee Bowyer returned on the volley, Jean-Alain Boumsong waved a heel and the bounce defeated the rookie keeper. The ball struck Sami Hyypia on the line and Titus Bramble lashed the rebound over the bar.

The only other first-half opportunity was started by Shearer on the edge of the Liverpool area. The ageing warhorse galloped goalwards, changing down to a canter and then a trot as the distance took its toll. Fortunately Kieron Dyer spurted past him but, having received the ball, he squirted it abjectly over the bar.

In the past this fixture has been a Champions' League play-off and appropriately the teams ran out for the second half to Fanfare for the Common Man and, man, had the first half been common fare. The second opened with a barrage of noise from the crowd and a fusillade of hailstones from the heavens that whipped into exposed flesh. Robert unleashed a couple of speculative shots before he and Shearer combined to win the game in the 70th minute.

Liverpool, lightweight in attack, found Bramble unbreachable at the back and withdrew Milan Baros before the full 90 were up. In the 87th minute, substitute Patrick Kluivert rolled Jamie Carragher to reach another Shearer knock-down, but hit the shot wide. Newcastle secured their fifth consecutive win and Souness his first as a manager over his former club.