Barton saw red late in Newcastle's 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield for a dreadful challenge from behind on Xabi Alonso, and the midfielder will now be banned for the club's remaining three games.

It was an undignified end to another forgettable campaign for Barton, who has spent much of it in the treatment room.

And manager Alan Shearer will be furious at having lost such a key player for the season finale, with United's very Premier League status on the line.

The game was won more comfortably than the scoreline suggested by Rafa Benitez's side, though goals from Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Lucas were more than enough to keep their title hopes alive.

Third-from-bottom Newcastle, meanwhile, remain three points adrift of safety, and a result for Hull City at Aston Villa tomorrow night would be disastrous for Shearer's side.

Now only wins in their next two games – home fixtures against Middlesbrough and Fulham – will give Shearer's side a chance of staying up going into the final day of the campaign, when they are at Villa Park.

Shearer has not shied away from making tough decisions since taking over at United, and he made his biggest yet by dropping Michael Owen down to the bench.

Instead, he brought Peter Lovenkrands back into his starting XI to form a three-pronged attack with Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins.

In defence, Damien Duff lined at left-back in the absence of the injured Jose Enrique, while the back four was otherwise unchanged from Monday night's game against Portsmouth.

Benitez, meanwhile, was without hamstring-victim Fernando Torres, though Steven Gerrard returned to his side after four matches on the sidelines.

After an evenly-contested first 10 minutes, a foul from Fabricio Coloccini on Gerrard almost led to a home breakthrough.

Referee Phil Dowd awarded the home side a free kick 25 yards from goal, and Gerrard – who had scored two goals in Liverpool's 5-1 win at St James's Park in late December – saw his effort saved well by Steve Harper.

Then, in the 16th minute, Harper pulled out a superb one-handed save to stop another shot from distance from Gerrard, who had found himself in acres of space.

Kuyt – a one-time Newcastle target – headed a left-wing Fabio Aurelio cross wide a minute later as Benitez's men started to assert their authority on their low-on-confidence visitors.

And their breakthrough wasn't long in coming, with Benayoun opening the scoring in the 22nd minute after Sebastien Bassong and Alan Smith allowed Kuyt to put the ball across the face of goal for the winger to tap in.

However, there was more than a suggestion of offside in the strike.

In the 26th minute Benayoun almost made a second goal for himself, taking three United players out inside the box before forcing a fine save from Harper.

Worryingly for Shearer, the mistakes kept coming, and Kuyt made it 2-0 in the 28th minute when he lost marker Habib Beye to power a left-wing Gerrard corner past Harper with his head.

Owen was then sent out to warm up by Shearer, and the striker – who was hammered by Liverpool fans on his last two visits to Anfield – was warmly applauded by The Kop.

Alonso – who scored past Harper with a 65-yard effort several seasons ago – had him beaten again with a shot from outside the box, but the effort struck the crossbar, and it was gratefully retrieved by the goalkeeper.

And, to Shearer's relief, there were no more goals before the break, though Daniel Agger had a decent effort pushed away.

Shearer replaced Lovenkrands – who had looked well short of fitness after his recent injury lay-off – with Jonas Gutierrez for the second half, and adopted a 4-4-2 formation.

Liverpool, however, were looking to pick up where they left off, and Gerrard drilled a shot narrowly wide of Harper's goal five minutes into the new half, and the midfielder wasn't far away with another effort as the hour mark approached.

Chances were few and far between at the other end, and Liverpool almost got their third when Alonso struck the bar in the 73rd minute.

A few minutes later Alonso was left in a crumpled heap by Barton at the corner flag, and the Newcastle man was quickly given his marching orders by Dowd.

Alonso was unable to continue, and was replaced by Lucas. Owen and Kevin Nolan then replaced Viduka and Martins as Alonso was stretchered off the pitch.

Shearer was taunted mercilessly in the final few minutes by The Kop, though he drew applause when he rose to his feet with a broad smile on his face.

However, his team's punishment was not over, with Lucas making it 3-0 in the 87th minute to cap another miserable afternoon for United.

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio; Benayoun, Mascherano (Ngog, 88), Alonso (Lucas, 80), Riera (Babel, 63); Gerrard, Kuyt. Subs not used: Cavalieri, Dossena, El Zhar, Skrtel.

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Harper; Beye, Coloccini, Bassong, Duff; Smith, Butt, Barton; Martins (Owen, 81), Viduka (Nolan, 81), Lovenkrands (Gutierrez, 46). Subs not used: Krul, Edgar, Guthrie, Carroll.

Goals: Benayoun 22, Kuyt 28, Lucas 87

Bookings: Smith 62

Sent off: Barton 77

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

Attendance: 44,121