Crouch celebrates Liverpool record as Reds’ Champions League hopes suffer blow

Peter Crouch has celebrated the breaking of his own record by James Milner, despite Liverpool’s hopes of securing a Champions League place suffering a bitter blow.

The Reds threw away the chance to climb into the top four of the Premier League by conceding a late equaliser to Newcastle substitute Joe Willock.

Willock’s striker came deep into second-half injury time after the hosts had dominated much of the attacking play at Anfield following Mohamed Salah’s third-minute opener.

It means Jurgen Klopp’s side have now won just one of their last 10 home matches in the league, leaving them two places and a point off Chelsea having played a game more than the Blues.

Milner was named as a substitute for the Saturday lunchtime clash, before replacing Diogo Jota two minutes before the hour mark.

In doing so, the Englishman broke Crouch’s record for the most Premier League appearances off the bench, with that his 159th outing as a sub.

Crouch set his record in November 2017 when he replaced Xherdan Shaqiri for Stoke City against Brighton.

The striker had come off the bench for Tottenham, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Stoke and Burnley across his top-flight career.

But now, the record is Milner’s, who has become a Premier League staple after spells at Leeds, Newcastle, Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Crouch was delighted to see his record broken and tweeted his congratulations to his former England team-mate.

“Congrats to James Milner on beating my record of Premier League substitute appearances. It’s the one they all want!” Crouch wrote.

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    • It is expected that Milner will extend the record by some margin, with the 35-year-old still having more than a year left on his contract at Liverpool.

    Though he is Klopp’s vice-captain, Milner has mainly been deployed from the bench this season, with his Newcastle outing his 13th as a substitute in the league this season.

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