'Collymore closing in!': 19 years on...

There have been games with more goals, more emphatic wins for the Reds, and more spectacular strikes scored- but few can have possessed the raw drama of 1996's topsy-turvy encounter with Kevin Keegan's Newcastle.

The background to the game was that Keegan's side, who looked to have the title sewn up in January, had endured a disastrous two months that had allowed Manchester United and Liverpool back into the title race.

The Reds had come back to within eight points of Manchester United at the top, with the game against the Magpies in hand on their Old Trafford rivals. After a loss in November to Middlesbrough, Roy Evans' team had been 14 points back in seventh.

However, that winter a run of 15 games undefeated saw some of the best football played at Anfield since 1990's title win. A side that looked on paper as if it had all the attributes to bring glory back to L4 was finally delivering on its promise.

In particular, the unstoppable front two of Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler and the right-sided combination of Jason McAteer and Steve McManaman made Liverpool seem like an irresistible force as the team hunted for glory. Just three days earlier they'd destroyed a strong Aston Villa side to book a place in the FA Cup final.

Pitted against the Reds were an equally attack-minded Newcastle side - a recipe for a gung-ho game in which there was barely time to catch your breath. Fans who attended Anfield on that Wednesday night created an atmosphere crackling with anticipation for what would surely be one of the games of the season.

In fact, it would be only three minutes before the contest would ignite as Newcastle were caught cold by some brilliant Collymore wing play. He crossed for Fowler and then there was only one result once the ball glanced off the Scouse striker's head.

However, Liverpool's lead lasted just seven minutes as Les Ferdinand smashed a powerful shot past David James after Faustino Asprilla had bamboozled Neil Ruddock. Ginola completed a lightening turnaround on 14 minutes by breaking clear and slotting past the helpless James.

Newcastle's speed in hitting back seemed to have initially subdued the Reds. Nonetheless, chances still came at both ends, but neither side could rediscover its goal-scoring touch.

But Evans's half-time team talk must've been an impassioned masterpiece as the game returned to being a hectic tit-for-tat affair, with the hosts determined to overcome their deficit.

Fowler equalised with a precise finish after a mazy McManaman run on 55 minutes, but Newcastle showed impressive resilience to put themselves ahead again just two minutes later

Faustino Asprilla scored that goal in one of his best performances for the Magpies, but the Colombian's efforts would ultimately be overshadowed as the Reds were by no means finished.

If the first hour had been Fowler's, the final half-hour was Collymore's - a teasing cross from one of the match's unsung heroes, McAteer, found Stan the man just yards from goal and he made no mistake.

With just 20 minutes remaining, the game was tied at 3-3, and even if it had ended then it would've gone into folklore.

Liverpool and Collymore weren't quite finished, though, as deep into stoppage time Barnes slipped the ball to the striker on the left, who blasted the ball past Pavel Srnicek.

Somehow, despite being going behind twice and being in arrears for much of the game, the Reds had won.

Keegan, at the ground on which he had so many happy memories, looked distraught as the home contingent celebrated the conclusion of an unforgettable night in front of the Kop.