Five things we learned from Newcastle's dramatic 2-2 draw with Liverpool
Newcastle United almost snatched a 2-1 win over Liverpool as Alexader Isak struggled on a day both clubs paid tribute to Kevin Keegan
Newcastle United almost snatched a 2-1 win over Liverpool as Alexader Isak struggled on a day both clubs paid tribute to Kevin Keegan
Newcastle United were heartbreakingly denied an opening day win against Liverpool as Dominik Szoboszlai's stoppage time penalty rescued a point for Andoni Iraola's side.
Goals from Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock had Matthias Jaissle on course for a famous win in his first competitive game in charge but Cody Gakpo's strike, as well as Szoboszlai's spot-kick, after Lewis Hall fouled Victor Munoz in the penalty area, cruelly denied United of three points.
Nonetheless, it was a positive performance from Newcastle who have shown they are ready to compete with the Premier League's best teams this season. Here are five things we learned from Newcastle's exhilarating draw with Liverpool.
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Isak struggles on return
Alexander Isak returned to St James' Park for the first time since his British record transfer move to the Reds and he was given a flavour of what was to come when he stepped off the team bus to chants of: 'Rat, rat, rat...' from those fans waiting outside the players' entrance.
The first teamsheet announcement 45 minutes before kick-off was met with an equally voracious boo and that continued into the warm-ups where his every miss was being cheered in front of the Leazes End during a shooting drill.
He smiled as he was roundly booed heading back down the tunnel and those boos raised another level after kick-off. He was met with a chant that is not printable and every time he touched the ball was noise was deafening and every time he was tackled - Lewis Hall crunched him twice in the first half - the cheers were merciless.
He barely threatened until the 70th minute when he got his golden opportunity but scooped a hopeless effort from 12 yards over the crossbar with his left foot. As you can imagine, the reaction inside St James' Park was pretty unforgiving.
Jaissle chant
Jaissle was unveiled as the club's new head coach to a huge ovation before kick-off and his passion on the touchline was more than a match for the raucous atmosphere.
The Magpies manager was kicking every ball, protesting every decision and had to be reminded about the boundaries of his technical area by the fourth official on a couple of occasions.
But his team responded to it on the pitch, racing into challenges, feeding off the crowd's energy and playing into the 'synergy' he wanted to create between his team and the supporters.
He promised front-footed, vertical, aggressive football, and Newcastle delivered that in his first game but were also resolute defensively. Newcastle fans loved what they were seeing and on the 50th minute mark, the first chant of 'Matthias Jaissle's black-and-white army rained down on the pitch from the Strawberry Corner.
After chants of 'Jaissle, I can boogie' during pre-season, too, it is clear the German has made a positive first impression on his new fanbase and there was a lot to like from his first competitive game as manager.
Keegan tributes
The tone was set for a special celebration of Keegan's life in the warm-ups as both clubs sported 'Keegan 7' on the back of their training shirts, while officials from both clubs laid flowers outside of the stadium, too.
A display then spanned all four stands inside St James' Park, with even the away end in Liverpool holding up signs spelling out 'Keegan', with the Newcastle fans in the Leazes End holding signs to display the number seven as both sets of supporters paid homage to a man who was a legend at both clubs.
A whole host of his former Entertainers players were in attendance to take in the pre-match scene, with a mosaic containing all of the shirts left outside of the stadium in tribute to Keegan after his death last month the centre-piece of the pre-match display.
A tifo was raised at the East Stand, with while the Gallowgate End had a banner that said: 'I want people to dream about their football club. They should. We should all be dreamers at heart. Some people are the opposite and say 'we can't do that', but when you ask them why, they can't give a reason. Well, I say, 'Why not?'.
Throughout the game 'Walking in a Keegan Wonderland' rang around the stadium and he would have been proud of the full-blooded game his two former sides put on to kickstart the season.
Liverpool record ends/continues
Heading into today's game, Liverpool were unbeaten in the last 19 Premier League matches between the two teams. A win for Newcastle would be their first against Liverpool in the league since December 2015. The Reds during that period have outscored the Magpies with 45 goals for and 19 against.
New signings watch - Dedic moment Leazes End loved
Jaissle named three new signings as part of his first Newcastle XI with Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic and Sean Steur all handed their full debuts.
Hornicek looked much more assured than his pre-season displays, making a superb save low to his left-hand side to divert the ball away from danger from Cody Gakpo's goalbound effort.
Dedic fitted in seamlessly into the Newcastle XI, showing why Jaissle saw him as a plug in and play signing in his system having played under him at RB Salzburg.
It was the Bosnian international's timely interception that set the ball rolling for Newcastle's first goal as he then found Will Osula who turned and drove at the Liverpool defence.
He fed Elanga through on goal to give Newcastle the lead and then he showed his defensive grit, outmuscling Gakpo to usher the ball out of play in stoppage time before flexing his muscles in front of the Leazes End.
Steur continued his impressive trajectory with another positive performance, always looking forward when he was on the ball while Aladji Bamba made his debut from the bench.
Bazoumana Toure and Ewen Jaouen were unused substitutes and are in line to make their debuts against West Brom on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup second round.