As a smile slowly spread across his face, Mohamed Salah kissed the club crest that adorned his rain-soaked red shirt. The Egyptian’s ninth goal in seven Premier League games and his second of the evening not only strengthened Liverpool’s title bid but also strengthened the case for offering a lucrative contract extension to a striker who could currently probably walk the Nile without help at Anfield .

Not that Salah was the only one to improve his negotiating position, as Fabian Schär’s late equalizer ensured that one of the games of the season, if not the decade, ended with distinction, even if league leader Arne Slot’s winning streak was finally halted became.

Much of this was thanks to Newcastle’s outstanding Alexander Isak. On a thrilling evening, the Swedish striker even outdid Salah, scoring a fine opener and providing Newcastle’s second goal as Eddie Howe’s players remembered they too could play a bit.

Newcastle began as if incessant repetitions of Howe’s mantra – “intensity is our identity” – were echoing in their ears. That meant Caoimhin Kelleher was quickly called to arms as his Liverpool team-mates struggled to regain their usual flexibility and skill, deftly parrying from Sandro Tonali after Anthony Gordon’s fine shot on the left wing.

After a disappointing defeat to West Ham here and a disappointing draw at Crystal Palace, Newcastle had upped their game in the way that a team that is always at its best in counter-attack mode always does when quality opponents visit Tyneside.

On a night where Trent Alexander-Arnold initially rested his legs on the visitors’ bench, Jarell Quansah certainly looked a little uneasy when Gordon appeared to show Slot exactly why his transfer to Anfield last summer ultimately fell through.

Not that Salah appeared remotely intimidated as he embarked on a thrilling duel with Lewis Hall. The former’s blocked cross was met by Alexis Mac Allister, who fired a half-volley that earned Nick Pope an impressive save. As Mac Allister’s next shot grazed the post, Howe’s excitement on the touchline increased, but then Isak deftly played Jacob Murphy in and the recalled right winger’s shot also clipped a post.

Like Salah, Isak also wants a new club contract, but until Wednesday evening he had underperformed this season.

All that changed in the blur of motion as Isak picked up Bruno Guimarães’ back pass and Virgil van Dijk turned in a way that Slots central midfielders are not used to. Now all Isak had to do was get the better of Kelleher by firing the ball violently into the top corner from around 20 meters away.

Suddenly Kelleher appeared to be standing between Newcastle and a bigger lead as his saves repeatedly spared his team-mate’s discomfort. If Gordon really should have beaten him after evading Joe Gomez with confident ease, no one could really argue that replacing the injured Alisson didn’t deserve a touch of luck.

By now it was easy to understand why Slot had warned his players that Newcastle would be a tougher task at St James’ Park than facing Real Madrid or Manchester City.

Not for the first time this season, the previously deceptively calm Salah found a solution to his manager’s problems. The second half lasted five minutes as he latched on to a long ball over the top, outwitted Hall and crossed low and accurately with the outside of his foot for the onrushing Curtis Jones to sink the ball out of Pope’s reach for the first time.

Newcastle were dangerous after that, with Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez inches from goal.

But as the rain became heavier, Guimarães and Isak together created the platform on which Gordon was finally able to score thanks to a right-footed shot to which Kelleher, for once, had no answer.

For a moment it looked like he might have received one ball too many, but Isak’s superb through ball called for a conversion and when Gomez counted again, the young Liverpool fan made it this time.

When Isak had another ‘goal’ disallowed for offside, Liverpool heeded the warning and Alexander-Arnold, fresh off the bench, reminded everyone of his exceptional chemistry with Salah, crossing from the right and leaving the latter smiling with a smooth finish from Howe’s face.

When Alexander-Arnold once again urged Salah to turn sharply and fire Liverpool into the lead, the game appeared to be over, but Schär’s follow-up goal from a free-kick and a rare Kelleher error secured Newcastle a deserved point.