Rio Ngumoha of Liverpool interacts with Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, following the team's victory in the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.placeholder image
Rio Ngumoha of Liverpool interacts with Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, following the team's victory in the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool secured a dramatic win over Newcastle United at St James' Park on Monday night
A lacklustre Liverpool side managed to keep out the Magpies in the first half with Ryan Gravenberch opening the scoring with a fine goal on 35 minutes. Anthony Gordon was then sent off for a dangerous challenge on Virgil van Dijk in the latter stages of the first half.
Referee Simon Hooper initially showed a yellow card to the former Everton man but VAR intervened with replays showing a rash challenge with Van Dijk admitting afterward he would have been shocked had the tackle not resulted in a sending off.
Hugo Ekitike scored just seconds into the second half and looked to have put the game beyond Newcastle. However, the Magpies showed impressive determination to claw the game back to 2-2 with goals from Bruno Guimarães and Will Osula.
Rio Ngumoha came off the bench in the 96th minute and soon fired in the winning goal on the 100th minute in an incredible moment.
Arne Slot hits out at Newcastle United tactics
Slot took aim at Newcastle’s tactics and style of play in his post-match interview, as he told Sky Sports: "I'm not too sure if I saw a football match today. It was set-piece after set-piece, long throw.
"It didn't have a lot to do with tactics, what I said before the game, but I liked a lot how we stood strong. Very difficult first half hour, 45 minutes, but we didn't collapse at all, we stood strong.
“Going down to 10-men, you would expect that that is a big plus for us, but when a goalkeeper takes every free kick, then there's not so much help if you are one player up, and that's why it was so difficult for us to bring the 2-0 over the line."
He added: “I don't think there was so much open play to be played.
“In a set-piece, a long throw-in, a long ball from the goalkeeper, you don't need an extra man. It's always nice to have an extra player on hand, but it's just not as beneficial as if they want to bring the ball out from the back and we can press them.”
Arne Slot praises Newcastle United fans with St James’ Park verdict
The Dutchman did make a point to praise the St James’ Park atmosphere during the game. Emotion was heightened on Tyneside ahead of the game because of the transfer saga surrounding Alexander Isak and his desire to leave Newcastle for Liverpool.
As he concluded his comments, Slot reserved some praise for the atmosphere in Newcastle. He said: “I think every fan everywhere around the world enjoyed watching this game of football, also because their fans were amazing in terms of the help they gave the home team."
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