Sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha emerged as the unlikely hero for Liverpool, scoring a sensational 100th-minute winner to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory over 10-man Newcastle United at St James’ Park. The result leaves the Magpies winless in their last 18 league encounters against Liverpool (D5, L13).
Amidst a tense atmosphere on Tyneside, fueled by the ongoing Alexander Isak transfer saga that has dominated the summer window, the match began with a bang. Both teams got stuck in immediately, with tackles flying and a yellow card issued to Ryan Gravenberch, who was making his return from a suspension. Newcastle appeared to have the upper hand early on, but it was Liverpool goalkeeper Nick Pope who made the first key save, denying a curling effort from Florian Wirtz. Anthony Gordon then had three chances in as many minutes, but could not find the target.
The tide of the match turned swiftly when Liverpool’s momentum seemed to fade. Gravenberch picked up the ball from 30 yards, took a touch, and coolly slotted his finish into the bottom corner. This goal marked the 36th consecutive league game in which Liverpool have scored. Just before halftime, Newcastle’s challenge became significantly harder when Gordon was shown a red card following a VAR review for a dangerous, sliding tackle from behind on Virgil van Dijk.
Despite being a man down, Newcastle’s hopes of holding the line were dashed within 20 seconds of the second-half restart. Cody Gakpo’s shot was blocked, but the ball fell back to him. He poked it to Hugo Ekitike, who produced a sublime finish into the bottom corner from just inside the box, securing his third goal in as many games for the Reds.
However, the Magpies refused to give up. They cut the deficit in the 57th minute when Tino Livramento’s cross into the box was headed home by Bruno Guimarães. After struggling to build on that momentum, Newcastle rallied in the closing stages and snatched a late equalizer in the 88th minute. A long ball from Pope was not dealt with by the Liverpool defense, allowing William Osula to pounce on Dan Burn’s flick-on and poke the ball past Alisson for his second-ever Premier League goal.
Just as it seemed Newcastle had salvaged a well-deserved point, a late super sub for manager Arne Slot made all the difference. In the tenth minute of added time, Ngumoha expertly pounced on a low cross from Mohamed Salah, curling the ball into the corner with aplomb to snatch all three points for the champions in a truly memorable match.
