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Rafa's St. James' Park Record
Written by Newcastle Utd
Ahead of Rafa Benitez's first home game in charge, we take a look at how he's fared on his previous visits to St. James' Park
Ahead of Rafa Benitez's first home game in charge of Newcastle United this weekend, Tom Easterby takes a look at how the former Liverpool and Chelsea boss has fared on his previous visits to St. James' Park...
Newcastle United 1 (Laurent Robert 70)
Liverpool 0
5th March, 2005
Attendance: 52,323
Rafa Benitez's first visit to St. James' Park didn't end the way he hoped it would, as Laurent Robert's winner 20 minutes from time condemned his Liverpool side - who would go on to win the Champions League, the Reds' fifth European crown, at the end of that season - to defeat in front of the United faithful.
"Laurent Robert shoots very well," lamented the Spaniard, after the Magpies winger flashed a 20-yard free-kick past debutant goalkeeper Scott Carson.
His captain, Steven Gerrard, flashed an effort wide in time added on, but it was to be an unhappy first trip to Tyneside for the former Valencia boss.
Newcastle United 1 (Shola Ameobi 41)
Liverpool 3 (Peter Crouch 10, Steven Gerrard 35, Djibril Cisse 52pen)
19th March, 2006
Attendance: 52,302
Just over a year later, Benitez earned his first win at St. James' Park over ten-man United.
Peter Crouch, pictured below battling with Emre, nodded in the opener early on before setting up Gerrard to fire home the second for the visitors, but Shola Ameobi's header reduced their lead four minutes before half-time.
However, just six minutes after the break, French centre-half Jean Alain Boumsong brought down Crouch in the area and was given a straight red card by referee Mike Riley, with Djibril Cisse stepping up to convert the resulting penalty.
The scoreline could have been even more flattering for Benitez's men were it not for a couple of fine saves from Shay Given, who denied both Xabi Alonso and Jan Kromkamp towards the end of an afternoon to forget for the Magpies.
Newcastle United 2 (Obafemi Martins 26, Nolberto Solano 70pen)
Liverpool 1 (Craig Bellamy 6)
10th February, 2007
Attendance: 52,305
The next time Benitez - the only man to win the Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup - would bring Liverpool to St. James' Park, they squandered a 1-0 lead to lose to Glenn Roeder's side.
Former United striker Craig Bellamy, then in his first of two spells with the Reds, opened the scoring, but Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina's poor clearance led to Obafemi Martin's rolling home the equaliser four minutes before the half hour mark.
With 20 minutes left, Steven Taylor was fouled by John Arne Riise in the box and Nolberto Solano stepped up to score the winner to ensure Benitez left without any points.
Newcastle United 0
Liverpool 3 (Steven Gerrard 28, Dirk Kuyt 46, Ryan Babel 66)
24th November, 2007
Attendance: 52,307
Nine months later, Benitez guided Liverpool to a convincing victory at St. James' Park.
Gerrard - so often a thorn in Newcastle's side during his time at Anfield - opened the scoring, rifling Lucas Leiva's lay-off from a free kick into the roof of Shay Given's net from 30 yards out.
That set the tone for the contest, with Fernando Torres striking the post and Dirk Kuyt bundling home the second just after the break, as United struggled to make any headway against the Merseyside outfit.
Ryan Babel wrapped it up after combining well with Gerrard to earn Benitez, who described it as an "almost perfect" performance, and Liverpool three points they were never really in danger of losing, despite the best efforts of Martins (below).
Newcastle United 1 (David Edgar 45)
Liverpool 5 (Steven Gerrard 31, 66, Sami Hyypia 36, Ryan Babel 50, Xabi Alonso 77pen)
28th December, 2008
Attendance: 52,114
Liverpool served up a festive goal feast the next time Benitez came to St. James' Park, putting the Magpies to the sword just after Christmas.
Defender David Edgar had reduced the arrears with a header (below) just before the break for Newcastle after goals from Gerrard, again, and Sami Hyypia had put the Reds in firm command.
But Benitez's men stepped up a gear after half-time, and Babel swept home his second goal in as many seasons on Tyneside before Gerrard raced clear of the United backline to dink over the onrushing Given and put the result beyond doubt.
A late Xabi Alonso penalty added further gloss to the scoreline on a miserable day for Joe Kinnear's men, who were thoroughly outplayed by Benitez's high-fliers.
Newcastle United 3 (Jonas Gutierrez 41, Moussa Sissoko 68, 90)
Chelsea 2 (Frank Lampard 55, Juan Mata 61)
2nd February, 2013
Attendance: 52,314
Fifty-five-year-old Benitez's most recent trip to Tyneside came just over three years ago, during his time as interim manager of Chelsea.
Having had a spell in charge of Inter Milan following his departure from Liverpool, Benitez took the reins at Chelsea following Roberto Di Matteo's sacking and brought his team to St James' Park just after the closing of the January 2013 transfer window, during which United had brought in - among others - Moussa Sissoko.
And it was the Frenchman who proved to be decisive in this encounter, but only after the two sides had traded three goals; first, Jonas Gutierrez's opener, before Frank Lampard and Juan Mata put Chelsea in control.
But Sissoko's second-half debut double - the winner coming in the final minute - had the stadium rocking as the hosts sealed the victory over Benitez's Blues in the most dramatic style.
