Ferdinand and Given in agreement over decision for Liverpool winner against Newcastle United

Newcastle United fans were left frustrated with Liverpool’s winning goal on Saturday, but Rio Ferdinand and Shay Given are not on board with their complains.

The Magpies had been in stunning home form ahead of the visit of Premier League title hopefuls Liverpool.

But their run of six straight home wins came to an end following Naby Keita’s first half winner at St James’ Park.

Liverpool are in almost faultness form as they charge towards a potential quadruple, and despite five changes, they proved just too solid at the back for the Magpies to break through.

The defeat certainly doesn’t reflect poorly upon Newcastle given the visitors’ form, but some fans were disappointed with the fact the winning goal was given.

Fans inside St James’ Park felt James Milner fouled Fabian Schar in the build up to what was a fine finish from Keita.

In fact, referee Andre Marriner was booed in at the break because of the incident.

But Former Manchester United star turned pundit Ferdinand felt Milner quite clearly took the ball.

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

And former Magpies keeper Given was in full agreement, adding: “It’s a good tackle from James Milner, in the end.

“There is physical contact at the end of the tackle but he clearly gets the ball. His follow-through, Schar maybe catches Milner and he goes down and rolls around a little bit.

“Perhaps another ref might have thought [to stop the game] because there’s an injury.”

The replay did appear to show Milner getting to the ball first, and ultimately, Newcastle can take plenty of positives from the defeat, including the fact they have limited Liverpool to just one goal.

That’s a good sign for Eddie Howe, who has spoken plenty about building a solid defence at St James’ Park.