St James’ Park witnessed another tension-packed and disappointing night of Premier League football as Liverpool defeated 10-man Newcastle United 3–2 with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scoring the decisive goal deep into stoppage time.
Eddie Howe’s side, already without unsettled striker Alexander Isak, made a blistering start. Anthony Gordon, leading the line again, pressed Liverpool relentlessly and forced Ibrahima Konate into early mistakes.
Gordon himself had three opportunities in the first half, while Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton dominated the midfield. But against the run of play, Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected strike put Arne Slot’s side ahead after 35 minutes.
Matters worsened on the verge of half-time when Gordon’s late challenge on Virgil van Dijk was upgraded from yellow to red after a VAR review. Reduced to ten men, Newcastle’s task became steeper, and less than 20 seconds into the second half, former Magpie target Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s advantage with a clinical finish from the edge of the area.
Despite the deficit, Newcastle fought back in a rather surprising way. Guimaraes headed home shortly before the hour and spark belief among the home crowd.
Howe’s men, depleted further by injuries to Sandro Tonali, Joelinton, and Fabian Schar, pressed on and were rewarded in the 88th minute when Will Osula scrambled in an equaliser after Dan Burn contested a long ball.
The 22-year-old, making only his second Premier League appearance, looked to have rescued a point for Newcastle. alas.
Instead, the final word belonged to Liverpool’s teenage substitute. In the 100th minute, Dominik Szoboszlai’s dummy allowed the ball to run through to Ngumoha, unmarked at the far post.
The youngster kept his composure and curled past Nick Pope to seal victory. Slot admitted afterward he “wasn’t sure it was a football match” given Newcastle’s reliance on set pieces, but praised his side’s resilience in sealing the win.
For Newcastle, the defeat stretched their winless league run against Liverpool to a decade. Howe reflected on “mixed feelings” and admitted the absence of Isak has been felt keenly.
“The quality of Alex, he would have made a difference,” Howe said. “But I can’t fault the players at all. Absolutely gutted for them.”
Newcastle travel to Leeds on Saturday, Aug. 30, still searching for their first league win of the campaign and with a seriously depleted squad.
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