Rio Ngumoha came on as a late substitute during Liverpool’s game against Newcastle and fired the Reds to victory with a last-minute goal. At just 16 years of age, the debutant’s emphatic first-touch finish makes him the youngest Liverpool player to score on his debut. A record which was held by the legendary Michael Owen until now.
Early contender for Game of the season?
Going into the game, there was a lot of excitement surrounding this tie. The Alexander Isak situation fanned the flames of an already thrilling tie. The Newcastle supporters were visibly riled up by the saga; the atmosphere at St. James’ Park made it evident.
The Newcastle players seemed to be riled up as well. During the initial minutes of the game, it could only be described as a “UFC Match”. The Magpies played like they took the Isak saga, and Liverpool’s hand in it, personally. They went into every challenge, every 50-50, and every duel as if it were their last. The Liverpool players were visibly rattled by it, having to slow down the game at every break to gather themselves, early on.
However, Newcastle were clearly missing their best player, Isak. They failed to take advantage of the chances they were creating as they lacked a natural finisher. The missed chances would soon come to haunt them. Rya Gravenberch gave Liverpool the lead against the run of play in the 35th minute. His deflected shot left Nick Pope standing still as the ball crawled into his far side.
Newcastle were still in the game. That was until Anthony Gordon got sent off right before half-time. The forward was given a straight red for his unnecessary, aggressive challenge on Van Dijk. At that point, it seemed like Newcastle had lost any chance they had of winning. Things became worse when Hugo Ekitike extended Liverpool’s lead to 2 goals right after half-time.
The comeback
Converse to what we would’ve expected at that point, Newcastle still had fight in them. After the 2nd goal, the Magpies came at Liverpool with an onslaught of attacks and set-pieces. From the minute they conceded to the end of the game, it looked like Newcastle had 11 men, while Liverpool were the team with 10. The Magpies’ domination pinned Liverpool to their own half for the entirety of the second half.
Their flurry of attacks would come good as Bruno Guimaraes gave them their first goal in the 57th minute, after some questionable defending by Milos Kerkez. 31 minutes later, the substitute William Osula would equalise for Newcastle, after some more poor defending, this time by Ibrahima Konate.
Rio Ngumoha the hero
The Magpies’ comeback would see St. James’ Park roar like never before. The momentum was entirely with Newcastle. If there was one team that seemed likely to get the 3rd goal, it was Newcastle. With 11 minutes added on and even more attacks by Newcastle, Arne Slot would bring on Rio Ngumoha for his official Debut. The 16-year-old came on at the 96th minute alongside Federico Chiesa. With just 5 minutes left in the additional time.
In the 100th minute, the teenager found himself in acres of space inside Newcastle’s box. With just a minute left in the game, the ball was coming towards the Ex-Cobham youngster after some quick passing by Liverpool, and a sensational dummy in the box by Szobozslai. Rio curved the ball into the far corner of the net with a beautiful first-time finish, displaying the composure of a seasoned veteran.
Dominik Szoboszlai was the only Liverpool outfield player who didn’t touch the ball in the build-up to Rio Ngumoha’s winner v Newcastle…
But his dummy created it 🤌 pic.twitter.com/ld3I4M90Sm
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 28, 2025
The 16-year-old had just won the tie for Liverpool with a last-minute goal on his official debut. He announced himself to the world in a game that will be considered a modern-day Premier League Classic.
What next for Rio Ngumoha and Liverpool
Liverpool will face Arsenal next weekend. This will be their biggest challenge yet, as the Gunners have begun their season in great form. Liverpool, meanwhile, have been shaky. They will need to fix up defensively, especially on set-pieces, to stand a chance at winning the tie against Arsenal.
Following his debut, Rio Ngumoha will most definitely feature regularly for the Reds. Against Arsenal, he’ll be facing off against another impressive teenager, Max Dowman. Like Rio, Dowman had a fantastic debut during Arsenal’s 5-0 routing of Leeds United. Them going face-to-face will be a sight to behold.