An evening of unbelievable drama unfolded at St. James’ Park on Monday evening, when Newcastle hosted Liverpool in the second round of the Premier League campaign.
Matches between these two clubs have been fiery affairs for a while, but at the moment, the unresolved situation regarding the future of Alexander Isak is causing additional friction. Therefore, the atmosphere inside the stadium was understandably charged with hostile emotions towards the visitors.
And yet, the home fans eventually left the venue utterly deflated. Ryan Gravenberch fired Liverpool ahead in the 35th minute, and things took another turn for the worse for Newcastle when Anthony Gordon received a straight red card for a foul on Virgil van Dijk in the first-half injury time. After the break, Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s advantage in under a minute, but Bruno Guimaraes pulled one back for the Magpies in the 57th. With just over two minutes of the 90 left, the unimaginable happened as Newcastle substitute William Osula equalized. However, the final word fell to Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha, who slammed the winning goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time.
Teams
Isak, who reportedly believes his days at the club are over, is currently training away from the team, but other than the Swedish striker, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe had the full squad to choose from.
Nick Pope was in goal, with Tino Livramento on the left and Kieran Trippier on the right flanking the centre-back duo of Dan Burn and Fabian Schar. Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Giumaraes formed the midfield trio, while Anthony Gordon stood in as the centre-forward, with Harvey Barnes on the left and Anthony Elanga on the right.
Meanwhile, Arne Slot in the visitors’ dugout was without the injured trio of midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Stefan Bajcetic, and right-back Jeremie Frimpong.
Alisson Becker is still the No. 1 choice between the posts and was picked ahead of Giorgi Mamardashvili again. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate had Milos Kerkez on the left, and with Frimpong out and Conor Bradley not fit for 90 minutes, midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was given the role of an auxiliary right-back. Ryan Gravenberch slotted next to Curtis Jones in the middle of the park, with Florian Wirtz in a more advanced role, while Hugo Ekitike had the support of Cody Gakpo from the left, and Mohamed Salah from the right.
Match recap
Newcastle sought to stamp their authority over the Premier League champions at once and using a very physical approach, they mostly managed that in the opening half an hour. Gordon, a former Everton player who was also linked with Liverpool for a while, caused the Liverpool back line plenty of problems, showing a large dose of motivation and plenty of talent. He had two fantastic chances, one ending up with his header going over the bar, and the other where Szoboszlai did extremely well to cushion his shot from close range and enable Alisson to pick the ball up without problems.
The ball spent most of the time in Liverpool’s half, with referee Simon Hooper’s insistence on allowing plenty of contact playing into Newcastle’s hands. The contest was very reminiscent of last season’s Carabao Cup final, when the trio of Tonali, Joelinton and Guimaraes completely mopped the floor with Liverpool’s midfield.
Liverpool’s forays into Newcastle’s half of the pitch, however, became more frequent as time went on, and one such occasion resulted in Gravenberch, obviously judging there were no better options, fired what looked like a desperate low shot from range. It somehow found its way through the forest of players ahead and scraped the inside of the post, before hitting the back of the net. Pope was left standing in disbelief and the visitors were ahead.
With the home side needing time to deal with this sudden shock, the contest became more even for the rest of the half. Gordon was still eager make his mark and worked tirelessly up front, but it turned to his undoing as his immense desire led him to make a very late tackle on Van Dijk, his studs leaving scratches on the Dutch centre-back’s calf. The referee initially gave a yellow card for that and a lot to do to stifle a row that had broken out between the players of the two teams, but he was eventually instructed by the VAR to review his decision on the pitch-side screen. The decision was changed and Gordon was already leaving when Hooper showed him the red card.
After the break, Liverpool moved quickly to kill the game off and it certainly looked like mission successful when Ekitike took the ball forward, played a one-two with Gakpo (who also assisted Gravenberch’s opener), and fired past Pope to make it 0-2.
But what happened after that can only serve as a great testament of sheer will the Newcastle players possessed. A player and two goals down, they re-established domination and forced the Reds back do defend for their lives. And their efforts started really paying off in the 57th minute, when Guimaraes and Kerkez contested a Livramento cross from the left on the far post. The Newcastle midfielder won that duel and headed in from close range, with Alisson unable to do anything about it.
Luck wasn’t on Newcastle’s side, though. Tonali was forced off with an injury in the 66th minute, and Joelinton followed suit 10 minutes later. Manager Eddie Howe decided to make it triple at that point, with Trippier and Barnes making way for Lewis Hall and William Osula. Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey, the latter recently signed from Aston Villa, had replaced Tonali and Joelinton, respectively.
In the 81st minute, another injury issue forced Schar to leave the pitch as well, with Malick Thiaw sent on, but not before Slot made a pair of changes for Liverpool. Federico Chiesa and Conor Bradley came on, with Wirtz and Ekitike making way. Szoboszlai returned to his place in midfield as Bradley went to the right defensive flank.
Still with a lead to protect, Liverpool moved their back line as high as they dared, even at set-pieces, and that decision proved costly. A free-kick, taken from the middle of the park, was launched over their line and as Konate stepped back to try and clear it, Burn, 6’5” tall, thwarted him and the ball bounced into the path of Osula, who nudged it past the onrushing Alisson to equalize in the 88th minute.
Slot’s response at that point eventually proved decisive, as Harvey Elliott and Rio Ngumoha replaced Jones and Gakpo.
Trying to make full use of the momentum and the 11 minutes of added time, Newcastle attacked in search of a winner. Liverpool were forced to defend several corners late on, but then, the visitors found a way to push the Magpies back and with almost 100 minutes on the clock, Szoboszlai let a Salah cross pass to the far post where Ngumoha lurked unmarked. The 16-year-old winger showed no hesitation as he blasted past Pope to earn all three points for Liverpool and break the hearts of the home crowd.
Rio the record-breaking teenager
Ngumoha’s goal was not only a winner in a Premier League blockbuster, but also his first-ever in the Premier League, and with four days left until his 17th birthday, he has made history as Liverpool’s youngest-ever goalscorer. He has also become the fourth youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, behind James Vaughan, James Milner, and Wayne Rooney.
When the departure of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich became imminent earlier this summer, Liverpool were strongly linked with Real Madrid’s Rodrygo Goes, who was reportedly not completely happy in the Spanish capital. However, more reliable sources played those links down, stating that the Merseysiders believed Gakpo and Ngumoha are options enough on the left attacking flank.
For the time being, it seems they were right.
Szoboszlai does well in ‘Trent role’
With Frimpong out of action and Bradley unable to play the full game, Slot decided to put Szoboszlai on the right defensive flank and the Hungary international played a very good game. Not only was he defensively solid and very hard to get past, but he also moved frequently into the middle of the park, the way Trent Alexander-Arnold used to do for a while before his move to Real Madrid at the end of last season.
Slot had previously tested Jones in that role, but Szoboszlai’s performance at St. James’ Park was notably better, and it obviously gives Slot another option for the future.
Did the Isak situation have impact on the match?
This is probably the biggest question of all when it comes to this match and the way it played out.
Missing a striker of Isak’s quality would surely be a big blow for any club, regardless of Gordon’s documented ability to trouble Konate and Van Dijk. Some might even argue that the Swede, known for his finishing ability, would put at least one of Gordon’s two big chances away.
Newcastle coped well with his absence, and proved dangerous even after Gordon’s first-half dismissal. But there can be no denying the fact that a high-quality striker in their ranks would’ve made a difference.
Isak, Konate, Leeds, Arsenal
With the transfer window approaching its end, both Newcastle and Liverpool will want the situation resolved as soon as possible. At this point, Liverpool only have Ekitike as a designated striker, and Newcastle don’t even have one, as they lost Callum Wilson early in the summer and have repeatedly failed in their pursuit of Brentford’s Yoane Wissa.
Many believe it would be best for all parties if Newcastle allowed Isak to join Liverpool at some price (Liverpool have reportedly seen a £110million offer rejected as Newcastle demand £150million), but the question is, where will Newcastle and Isak be if that doesn’t happen?
Some, like Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, are of the opinion that Isak could be reintegrated into Eddie Howe’s squad, providing he apologizes and continues playing the same level as before. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Meanwhile, Newcastle travel to face newly promoted Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday, a few hours before Liverpool welcome Arsenal to Anfield, in a clash between the Premier League champions and the consecutive runners-up in the last two seasons.
Liverpool have a problem of their own regarding a player who could possibly be eyeing a move away from the club. Ibrahima Konate has entered the last year of contract and has already rejected what the club had offered as a new deal, and his performances at the moment are far from convincing.
With Jarell Quansah leaving for Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the summer and Joe Gomez continuously struggling with injuries, Slot doesn’t really have many options in the heart of defence. Giovanni Leoni has arrived from Parma and sat on the bench at St. James’ Park, but at the age of 18, he is yet to prove himself ready for the Premier League. Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi has been linked, but there doesn’t appear to be much movement on that front. Again, let’s wait and see.
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