Roeder honeymoon well and truly over

The defensive frailties that proved to be Graeme Souness' downfall were evident at Old Trafford seven days earlier and they lingered again at St James' Park yesterday.

But where victory in Manchester United's own backyard was never really expected, there was a belief amongst the home fans that Newcastle could rediscover the form against Liverpool that heralded a six-match unbeaten run under the caretaker boss.

Instead the European champions sailed to a comfortable 3-1 win in which Jean-Alain Boumsong, not for the first time since his £8m switch from Rangers, again proved to be the main culprit.

And now, with chances of finishing in the top six all but gone after this defeat, all eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

After the final whistle blows against Chelsea the clamour for Roeder to be handed the reins full-time, that had gathered enormous pace prior to the defeat to United, could have all but disappeared if the expected FA Cup exit at the hands of the league champions arrives.

Liverpool, on the other hand, continue at steam. A top-four finish grows more and more likely and an FA Cup quarter-final date with Birmingham should end in a semi-final place.

Roeder has undoubtedly steadied the ship and steered Newcastle away from relegation danger but Boumsong has shown that, with whatever coaching, old habits die hard.

He had already contributed, along with Peter Ramage, to allowing Peter Crouch the space to head Liverpool in front after just ten minutes.

And then, after Gerrard had added a sensational second and Shola Ameobi had pulled the home side to within one, Boumsong's propensity to self-destruct at the wrong time occurred again just six minutes after the interval.

The centre-back, who has endured a torrid time since his move from Rangers, completely missed his attempts to clear a routine ball over the top.

That allowed Crouch to nip in and charge into the box where Boumsong hauled him down for a penalty. To make matters worse he was then red-carded by referee Mike Riley and Djibril Cisse slotted in the spot-kick.

Cisse was at the centre of a row for incensing fans with gestures moments after the goal that ended all Newcastle hopes.

Just two wins for Newcastle in the previous ten meetings between these two sides highlighted how things have not always gone to plan for the Tyneside outfit in recent years against their counterparts from Merseyside.

The fact Laurent Robert, the lone goalscorer in each of those Magpies victories, is no longer at the club also meant there was a need for another match-winner to emerge if the points were going to arrive this time.

And, while recent form suggested there would be many candidates to provide such an honour, one man who was not going to prove to be the difference was Robert's replacement in the squad, Albert Luque.

Luque has been allowed to return to Spain in an attempt to help him rediscover the sort of form that persuaded chairman Freddy Shepherd to splash nearly £10m on him.

But Liverpool's widest left player, Stephen Warnock, was certainly in attendance at St James'. Normally a full-back yet the young England prospect slotted into Liverpool's new five-man midfield unfazed.

He had delivered three decent crosses for Crouch before the opening goal arrived on ten minutes.

The difference this time, after the move had started on Warnock's left, the source proved to be from the opposite flank.

The central figure of England midfielder Gerrard sprayed the ball out to the right for Jan Kromkamp. Kromkamp took a touch before delivering to the back post where Crouch casually strolled in between Jean-Alain Boumsong and Peter Ramage to head past Shay Given.

The unenviable task of having to come from behind to win was always going to be hard given the fact it is over two years since Liverpool lost a game from a winning position.

But Newcastle, who did change things soon after Lee Bowyer was introduced to combat a visiting midfield that had ran the opening exchanges, created a couple of chances to claw themselves level.

The outside of Shearer's right boot curled an effort wide and goalkeeper Pepe Reina spilled a relatively easy shot from Charles N'Zogbia.

But Liverpool deservedly remained in front and there could be no qualms when Newcastle fell two behind in the 34th minute after a quite exceptional move.

Former Magpie Hamann was allowed to run well into the Newcastle half before picking out Cisse on the right. Gerrard's class prevailed when he knocked Cisse's cross into Crouch before firing the return pass into Given's bottom left corner.

Confidence appeared to drain from Newcastle but, with Liverpool slacking as the interval approached, it suddenly reappeared when the arrears were reduced.

Ameobi's clever run inside Sami Hyypia left him with just Reina to beat from eight yards and he headed Scott Parker's neat chip beyond the Spanish keeper.

Even with the deficit down to just one the need for Roeder to demand more from his players at the break was clear if Newcastle were to prevent a second successive reversal.

But whatever was said did not have the desired effect. In fact, in Boumsong's case, it only worked to the detriment of the error-prone Frenchman.

His mistake, when he missed the ball over the top, led to Crouch being brought down and he was then red carded for his efforts.

Up stepped Cisse to score Liverpool's third and, instead of just allowing his feet to do the talking, he could have followed his fellow countryman down the tunnel for gesturing to the fans. But to the crowd's frustrations, he stayed.

Xabi Alonso, on for the outstanding Gerrard, did force Given into a fantastic right-handed save from distance. If anything was likely to change it was the number of goals scored by the visitors.

But Given did his best to keep the score down and made another great stop to deny Kromkamp's volley. The damage, however, had already been done.