Liverpool clinch club record points tally with win over Newcastle

Liverpool rounded off a glorious title-winning campaign with a 3-1 victory at Newcastle to set a new club record of 99 points.

The Reds got off to a terrible start and fell behind inside 25 seconds when Dwight Gayle finished off Jonjo Shelvey's quickly-taken free kick.

The champions had left their famed forward trio on the bench to begin with and they lacked a cutting edge for much of the first half, needing a Virgil van Dijk header to restore parity prior to the interval.

Liverpool upped the ante in the second period as Newcastle continued to struggle to retain possession, and they got their reward when Divock Origi ended a 24-game goal drought with a stunning 25-yard strike.

Substitute Sadio Mane put the game to bed in the last minute when he cut in from the left and curled home a delightful shot.

The victory saw Liverpool equal Manchester City's top-flight record of 32 wins in a season, meaning they dropped just 15 points in a campaign that saw them pick up a 19th league title after a 30-year wait. The Merseysiders finished 18 points clear of Manchester City. The Reds also secured the second highest total in history, just behind City’s centurions of 2017-18.

Newcastle finish in 13th and will hope uncertainty over a proposed takeover will be resolved soon so they can strengthen in the market.

Reds round off historic campaign in style. Liverpool clearly took their foot off the pedal at various times in the seven games since being crowned champions, but never truly looked in danger of suffering another slip up against an uninspired Magpies. There was lots of talk about setting a new record points total throughout this campaign - and they added a few more records here - but the true test of this Liverpool team’s legendary status will surely be in attempting to retain the title. As Bob Paisley used to say: ‘The easiest thing is to win the league, the hardest thing is to win it again'. After a three-decade wait, it wasn’t so simple, but retaining the trophy is going to be extremely tough. Roll on next season.

Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool). The Dutch defender showed his passing range as well as his threat in the air with his goal as he become the first Liverpool outfield player to be an ever-present in back-to-back league campaigns since Robbie Fowler in 1994-95 and 1995-96. He is also only the fifth outfield player to play every minute for a Premier League-title winning side.

NEWCASTLE: Dubravka 7, Fernandez 7, Rose 6, Manquillo 6, Lazaro 6, Shelvey 7, Bentaleb 6, Almiron 6, Ritchie 7, Saint-Maximin 6, Gayle 7. Subs: Joelinton 6, S Longstaff 6, Hayden 6, Watts 6, Carroll 6.

LIVERPOOL: Alisson 7, Williams 6, Gomez 6, van Dijk 8, Robertson 8, Milner 7, Wijnaldum 7, Keita 7, Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Minamino 7, Origi 7. Subs: Firmino 7, Salah 7, Mane 7, Alexander-Arnold n/a, Jones n/a.

1' - GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Liverpool. What a start for the hosts! Shelvey lofts a quick free kick over the top for Gayle to run through and fire beyond Alisson. VAR checks for what seems like an eternity, but the eventual verdict is good news for the Magpies.

29' - LIVERPOOL CHANCE! Dubravka springs to his right to push Minamino's super 25-yard strike past the post.

38' - GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Liverpool. Van Dijk loops a lovely header into the far corner after a superb run and cross from Oxlade Chamberlain on the right.

59' - GOAL! Newcastle 1-2 Liverpool. Origi cuts in from the left and flashes a magnificent 25-yard shot into the far corner.

66' - LIVERPOOL CHANCE! A left-wing free kick is cleared only as far as Salah on the far right of the area, but his snap shot crashes back off the post.

89' - GOAL! Newcastle 1-3 Liverpool. Mane finishes the job in style with a delightful curler after he cut in from the left.

Dwight Gayle's opener after 25 seconds is the quickest goal ever scored on the final day of the Premier League season, and the earliest Liverpool have ever conceded in a Premier League game.

Van Dijk has scored his fifth league goal of the season, his most in a PL campaign; since his debut for Liverpool in January 2018, the Dutch defender has scored more goals than any other centre back in the competition (9).

Divock Origi scored his first goal in 24 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool since netting a brace against Everton in December 2019, 235 days ago.