Premier League leaders Liverpool looked set to pick up another crucial win on Wednesday night after twice coming from behind to lead Newcastle.
The hosts took the lead 10 minutes before half-time through Alexander Isak’s thumping strike but Liverpool equalised shortly after the break, Curtis Jones continuing his impressive form with an important goal.
Anthony Gordon restored Newcastle’s lead with half an hour remaining but the sensational Mohamed Salah then scored twice in 15 minutes to turn the game on its head.
But there was one last twist as Reds goalkeeper Kelleher left an outswinging free-kick only to see Fabian Schar hook the ball home from a tight angle.
A draw was probably a fair result given Newcastle led twice but Carragher was baffled by Kelleher’s role in Newcastle’s late goal and criticised him for pulling out of the catch.
‘As a goalie you just catch it, you don’t leave it,’ Carragher said on a watchalong on The Overlap. ‘What are you doing?
‘If you can catch it you catch it! As a defender if you can head it you head it. I can’t believe it.
‘What was he doing there? What was he doing? I can’t believe he’s not caught the ball. I can’t believe the goalie. I can’t believe he’s not just caught it.’
Ex-Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright added: ‘What’s happened to the goalkeeper there? The goalkeeper has had a mare. I think he thinks it’s going out.’
Kelleher has largely impressed since replacing the injured Alisson as Liverpool’s No. 1 in recent weeks but will be disappointed with his decision-making at the death at St James’ Park.
Despite his consistent performances, Kelleher faces an uncertain future at Anfield and has even been linked with a move to Premier League rivals Chelsea.
Liverpool remain top of the table but their lead has been cut to seven points after Chelsea and Arsenal both secured routine victories on Wednesday night.
The 3-3 draw leaves Newcastle 10th in the table and manager Eddie Howe was pleased with his team’s performance against an in-form Liverpool.
‘How do I feel? Positive, that was much better from us,’ he told Amazon Prime. ‘You know with the quality Liverpool have off the bench we could have an issue and that’s what happened.
‘But our mental quality came to the fore and we got the equaliser. We had chances to make it 2-0, we scored three goals and looked dynamic and energetic.
‘I am really proud. We went toe-to-toe and matched them, it’s our best of the season. Our gameplan was to be ourselves which is difficult against a team like Liverpool, it’s a delicate balance.
‘Alexander Isak was really good tonight, if we get our players firing we are some team.’
