Match Report- Newcastle 1 Liverpool 1 Liverpool had taken the lead against the run of play at St. James' Park after just six minutes. Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate collided with teammate Titus Bramble as he jumped with Florent Sinama-Pongolle to get the ball. Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy collected the loose ball, headed it down and poked it past advancing Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given. Newcastle was almost caught out again halfway through the first half, but Aaron Hughes cleared a Sinama-Pongolle attempt. Liverpool 'keeper Chris Kirkland came off his line to stop a Gary Speed shot and also saved attempts from Jermaine Jenas and Shola Ameobi. Early in the second half, Given punched away a Sinama-Pongolle strike, then caught a Steven Gerrard rebound attempt. Newcastle's Laurent Robert had a 30-yard (meter) free kick go inches wide in the 58th minute. Newcastle was awarded a penalty soon after when Kirkland brought down Newcastle striker Shearer, who was running with the ball in the penalty box. Kirkland was given a yellow card for arguing about the penalty with referee Graham Poll. Shearer converted in the 63rd minute, firing the ball into the top of the net while Kirkland dived the other way. Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann had a 83rd minute volleyed strike saved by a diving Given. Kirkland saved from Shearer with five minutes remaining, pushing a long range chip over the bar. Liverpool was missing injured strikers Michael Owen and Harry Kewell and made five changes to the side which that lost to Bolton in the League Cup midweek. The Reds moved to fifth in the standings, its highest rank this season. Newcastle stayed in seventh place. "It was a deserved point. There was a lot of dramatic intensity about the game and I thought we had a good response. We showed guts and character," said Houllier. "They dominated the game but we knew they would do that because we have practically half a team out with injuries. I am a happier man because I think the performance against Bolton was not satisfactory despite the fact we rotated some players. The response was full of pride and very positive and yes that makes me extremely happy and very proud of them." source: Foxsport/Sublime Football