Rio Ferdinand issues verdict on controversial incident during Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Rio Ferdinand has defended Liverpool’s winning goal against Newcastle United.

The Reds came through a tough test at St James’ Park with all three points thanks to another professional display.

Naby Keita’s fine first-half finish was enough to separate the two teams, with Liverpool moving to the top of the table ahead Manchester City’s game with Leeds United.

Newcastle have been in excellent form of late, particularly at home, and they did not make it easy for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

But Liverpool defended excellently and controlled large part of the game to leave the North East with all three points.

Though, there was a bone of contention, with some controversy over the winning goal.

Newcastle fans were left outraged because of a tackle from James Milner in the build up to Keita’s goal.

Milner put in a strong challenge to get the move up and running, and the home fans felt he fouled Fabian Schar.

But replays did seem to show Milner getting to the ball first, and former Manchester United defender turned pundit Ferdinand was in no doubt over the decision.

“Milner gets there first, Schar’s legs are in the tackle. There’s no chance it’s a foul,” he said on BT Sport.

Newcastle fans booed referee Andre Marriner going in at the break, but they may feel differently after seeing a replay of the incident.

Liverpool now march on to Tuesday night’s second leg with Villarreal in Spain with their momentum continuing both domestically and in Europe.

Klopp also manged to rest as many as five players for this one, so he should have a relatively fresh team for the trip to Castellon, or at least as fresh as they can be in this ultra busy campaign.