The Paul Gorst verdict after a dramatic 3-2 victory for Liverpool at Newcastle United
Paul Gorst is the Liverpool ECHO's Liverpool FC correspondent and brings readers the inside track on all matters Anfield day in, day out. Now into his fifth season in the role, Paul follows the Reds home and away, wherever they play - including pre season. He brings you all the latest Liverpool news first each day, plus exclusive interviews and insightful, independent analysis. A journalist with over a decade's worth of experience, he has worked at the ECHO since 2016.
Rio Ngumoha is surrounded by teammates as they celebrate his winning goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025
(Image: Daniel Chesterton/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
It's now pretty much official: Liverpool are intent on defending their Premier League crown in the most bonkers way possible.
After kicking off their campaign with a 4-2 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield, that saw the visitors fight back from two goals down before being beaten by a couple of late goals, Arne Slot's men followed it up by contributing to an early contender for game of the season against the 10 men of Newcastle United, winning 3-2 after 11 minutes of stoppage time.
And while all the talk, on both sides of the divide, had raged about a certain Alexander Isak in the build up, it was a new name that forced its way to national prominence here as Rio Ngumoha showed exactly why there is so much excitement around him, scoring just minutes into his Premier League debut at the tender age of 16.
How coolly he took the winning goal - in the 100th minute - drew comparisons with the great Thierry Henry from one former Premier League striker in the press box. It will be sometime before the man, or boy, himself can justify that chatter, but the teenager doesn't even turn 17 until Friday. It's easy to see why they think he can be special.
"Potentially elite" was how Ngumoha was described by one Liverpool source when he arrived from Chelsea last summer, but the Reds' secret is now out: The boy with 'Rio' on the back of his shirt has just become a household name.
But for all the delirious celebrations of the players and the pandemonium on the away concourses, there are issues that Slot will need to address in the cold light of day if Liverpool are to ensure their title stroll last time out was no one-off.
Four goals conceded in their first two games is proof that the defensive coverage is not quite there just now and while the returning Ryan Gravenberch's poise and balance in the engine room was a welcome sight, those in the centre of the pitch are leaving the backline overworked at times. Alexis Mac Allister's clarity of thought was missed here.
Virgil van Dijk was immense - and one stoppage-time header clear, in particular, was as good as a goal - but he cannot do it alone and this was another off-night for Ibrahima Konate, even when the hosts were reduced to 10 men after Anthony Gordon's red card.
Despite the understandable emotion of the occasion, Newcastle boxed clever tactically and refused to be lulled into pressing too hard and high, which forced Alisson Becker to go long with it too often for Slot's liking, leaving the likes of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo to try and win it in the air, largely to little avail.
But a sustained spell of possession after the half-hour mark finally allowed the visitors to get their foot on the ball and try to take the sting out of proceedings. And with the Magpies growing in confidence through a series of Gordon half-chances, the champions caught their hosts cold with Gravenberch's low strike that caught Nick Pope flat-footed with 10 minutes of the half remaining.
If Newcastle's players had channeled the frustrations and the anger from the stands in the right manner for 45 minutes, the arrival of the fourth official's board was quickly followed by a rush of blood from Gordon, who foolishly launched himself into a poor challenge that left Van Dijk in a heap.
Referee Simon Hooper's consultation with the pitch-side monitor led to the tackle being upgraded to a red card. It was an awful challenge and while the home fans moaned about the Premier League apparently being "corrupt", it was the sort of tackle that even legendary Magpie Alan Shearer was made to concede deserved marching orders.
To rub salt further into those gaping, striker-less wounds, it was Hugo Ekitike, courted by Newcastle earlier this summer, who doubled the advantage with a smart finish off the post moments after the restart.
The powerful frontman added another exciting cameo to his growing portfolio as a Reds player and once he is able to complete 90 minutes in the intense cauldrons of the Premier League, he will be some player for this new-look Liverpool side.
But there is little denying he needs help. Once more, Ekitike's withdrawal coincided with Slot's team being unable to make the ball stick up top and the 10 men were invited back into the game far too easily for a side with genuine title aspirations.
Slot may claim his side have scored seven goals in their two outings so far but there is a lack of depth in the frontline after the decisions to offload both Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz. It still feels crass in the extreme discussing the tragic death of Diogo Jota in terms of squad depth and coverage but the exits of the South American pair has left the champions light in forward areas.
With less than a week until the transfer deadline passes, a decision now must be made: Go all in on a Isak pursuit - without confidence the Magpies will finally relent - or pivot to a Plan B, who may be come to be viewed as an inferior alternative. It's a delicate situation but the money is at least there, as evidenced by the £110m Isak bid that was rejected earlier this month.
And while the recruitment team are at it, another centre-back is also a must before the September 1 deadline. The cat-and-mouse game with Crystal Palace over Marc Guehi may need wrapping up sooner rather than later if Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes are to ensure the squad is not left short. A massive week awaits on the transfer front.
After the outstanding Bruno Guimaraes had halved the deficit with a well-taken header, it was rookie Will Osula, thrown on in the absence of a more experienced frontman, who profited from some desperately slack defending via Pope's punted free-kick to set up the prospect of a remarkable smash-and-grab from the hosts.
A draw was the least the efforts of Eddie Howe's men deserved, but with 100 minutes on the clock, Salah's cross was beautifully dummied by the excellent Dominik Szoboszlai into the path of Ngumoha, who curled it past Pope like he'd been doing it for 10 years at this level.
But while Ngumoha will be able to make the journey back to Merseyside with his goal on a social media loop on his phone, his post-match warm-down routines, overseen on the pitch by the club fitness staff long after the fans had departed, will have served as a timely reminder of the work needed to stay at this level.
Up next for the champions is a visit from Arsenal on Sunday. Another white-knuckle ride likely awaits on the early evidence.