Liverpool, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Liverpool moved to within four points of fourth-place Manchester City on Monday as goals from Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen propelled the club to a 2-0 win over Newcastle at Anfield.
Sterling got things going inside of nine minutes and Allen provided the insurance tally 20 minutes from time before Newcastle went down to 10 men in the 83rd with Moussa Sissoko collecting a second yellow card.
Daniel Sturridge was unavailable to Liverpool because of an injury, and Sterling was charged with operating as a striker, which he did quite well in the ninth minute.
Jordan Henderson picked out Sterling with a long ball across the field that the striker brought down on the left. He beat a defender and curled a well- placed shot inside the far post past the diving Tim Krul, giving the Reds a 1-0 advantage.
Liverpool enjoyed the better of the play in the opening half, but goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was called upon just before halftime to keep out a close-range header from Ayoze Perez at full stretch.
Sterling squandered a great chance to double Liverpool's lead in the 56th when a scuffed clearance left him with an open look at goal from six yards, but he failed to hit the target.
The miss didn't prove costly, however, as Allen found the net in the 70th when he pounced on a loose ball in front of goal to fire home a second goal for the hosts following a corner kick.
Newcastle didn't look likely to mount a comeback, and any thoughts they may have had took a hit as Sissoko was sent off seven minutes from time after collecting a second yellow card for a poor tackle on Lucas.
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