Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Newcastle: Ngumoha Performs Magic in 3

Liverpool escaped St. James’ Park with all three points in one of the most exciting games fans will ever see defeating Newcastle United 3–2 on the night.

Electricity was in the air as the game began given the ongoing discourse between both sides amid the Alexander Isak transfer saga. Liverpool missed both Jeremie Frimpong and Alexis Mac Allister on the day with Arne Slot naming Dominik Szoboszlai the surprise nod to fill in for the former.

Newcastle had their fair share of dead ball opportunities in the attacking third, but failed to truly threaten the Liverpool goal. Fifteen fouls and two yellow cards in 25 minutes spoke to the physical nature of the first half. The best chance of the first half came in the 28th minute as Harvey Barnes played a dangerous cross into the box. Anthony Gordon rose tall to meet it, but his header went over the bar.

Liverpool struggled significantly to build a consistent period of possession 30 minutes in and looked a step behind their opponents. Yet, it was the Reds who struck first out of nowhere through the reintroduced Ryan Gravenberch. The Dutch midfielder completely caught out Nick Pope with a long range, low-driven effort that just crept in off the post.

Tempers flared one more time before the end of the first half when Simon Hooper was sent to the monitor by VAR to review a challenge by Anthony Gordon on Virgil van Dijk. Originally shown a yellow card, Hooper overturned his original call and sent Gordon off for serious foul play. A dismal end to a half for a Newcastle side that was on top early, but a sense of relief for Liverpool as they prepared to impose themselves more coming back out of the tunnel.

Just 30 seconds from the restart, Hugo Ekitiké doubled the Liverpool lead against 10 men. A clinical strike that nearly mimicked the Gravenberch goal as it tucked into the post. A coming together between the French goalscorer and Sandro Tonali brought the game to a halt shortly after as Tonali seemingly suffered a left shoulder injury.

Bruno Guimarães got the home side back into the game with a rising header that beat Alisson. Tino Livramento played a ball in as Milos Kerkez looked lost trying to defend against the Brazilian.

Further injuries to Joelinton and Fabian Schär brought the game to a halt, but Newcastle pressed on. William Osula, a late substitute, scored an equaliser to the chagrin of Liverpool supporters as the 22-year-old ran off seemingly doing the John Cena ‘U Can’t See Me’ celebration. Though, 11 minutes of stoppage time remained.

And, just as it looked like Liverpool would drop points, another unlikely hero stepped up. Rio Ngumoha, just 16-years-old, scored the winner as the Reds escaped with all three points.

To be exact, 16-years-old and 361 days. Ngumoha was just one day older than when Premier League legend Wayne Rooney scored his first goal.

In the end, six points from two games as eyes shift toward welcoming Arsenal to Anfield next week. Slot won’t be happy how his team coughed up two-goal leads in back-to-back games, though this team continues to have that never-say-die attitude that propelled them to a league title last season.

Liverpool player ratings from the game below.

Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Newcastle (4-2-3-1)

Ratings Provided by FotMob

Subs not used: Giorgi Mamardashvili (GK), Andrew Robertson, Giovanni Leoni, Joe Gomez

Player of the Match: Cody Gakpo

Newcastle United (4-3-3): Nick Pope; Tino Livramento, Dan Burn; Fabian Schär, Kieran Trippier; Joelinton, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães; Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon, Anthony Elanga

Subs: Aaron Ramsdale, Lewis Hall, Malick Thiaw, Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy, Jacob Ramsey, William Osula