Newcastle 2 - Liverpool 3
Match Date: Monday 25th August 2025
Liverpool Scorers:
- Ryan Gravenberch (35')
- Hugo Ekitike (46')
- Rio Ngumoha (110')
Newcastle Scorers:
- Bruno Guimaraes (57')
- William Osula (88')
It felt like an eternity waiting for this match to take place, all the other teams had already played their 2nd game during the weekend and this game was on a Monday; it was building up to be a real grudge match given the issues Newcastle were having with Alexander Isak and his demand for a transfer to ... Liverpool FC. I could not help but think that Newcastle's midfield would be extra aggressive for this game with the home support backing them to 'get at em'. My worry of course are potential injuries to any of our key players this early in the season.
For Liverpool the return of Ryan Gravenberch for this fixture was a welcome return after serving his one match suspension by missing the previous Bournmouth game., and with Frimpong injured, and Bradly not fit enough for 90mins, Slot decided to experiment with Szoboszlai at right back. In midfield Liverpool had Jones, Gravenberch and Wirtz. For Newcastle there was no Isak give the situation, but they did play their new Swedish signing in Anthony Elanger. Their midfield had their main players in Bruno, Tonali, and Joe Linton.
The game started as all Liverpool fans must have expected Newcastle dominating our midfield and getting into our final third, Konate and Kerkez throughout the game would look uncomfortable. The initial fouls committed by Newcastle were getting unpunished by the referee (a friend of mine made the comment that Newcastle spent their transfer money buying match officials rather than players)...this pattern would hold true for the early exchanges of the game, but 11 minutes and Ryan Gravenberch was already booked for what seemed like a lesser foul than any unpunished fouls by the opposition.
For 30 minutes of the first half the home side were the dominant side, in midfield and attack, their best chance came from a cross which Anthony Gordon was unable to direct into the goal, but had the chance fell to Isak then just maybe Newcastle would be one up. Konate was struggling in his duels, and Kerkez was struggling to match the pace of Elanger on his side. Last season Kerkez was part of the Bournmouth team that beat Newcastle 4-0 in this fixture and he himself had scored, but in this game he struggled to get forward ... maybe it was a directive from Slot after the defence struggled in the previous game against his former team.
Despite all the Newcastle dominance it was Liverpool who scored first from a wonderful strike by Gravenberch who in one of his rare forays into the Newcastle final third managed to place the ball so accurately low to the Newcastle right post. Then followed a period of Liverpool dominance and in a rare moment Salah crossed the ball in the path of Jones who missed the ball completely with his right foot, Salah did not hide his frustrations.
The drama was not over in the first half, as Liverpool took control and were passing it around at the back, Anthony Gordon decided to take matters into his own hands sliding into Virgil studs up leaving his mark on Virgil's calf, and despite the referee seeing the incident, a red card was only given after VAR intervened. From then on it was Liverpool that dominated the remainder of the first half, as Newcastle defended with 10 men. However, any Liverpool fan would have no argument if Gordon stayed on if it meant that Virgil was not seriously injured.
The second half started very well for Liverpool, on the 46th minute, Newcastle began the half on the front foot even though they were 10 men, but lost the ball and Ekitike carries the ball from the Liverpool half to pass to Gakpo who advanced to shoot, but his shot was blocked and rebounded bakc to him and while he was unable to shoot again - he managed to pass to Ekitike to his right and free, Ekitike took a well placed shot from the edge of the area into the bottom right hand corner of the Newcastle goal. His third goal for Liverpool in as many games, what was impressive was his run leading up to the goal and his pass to Gakpo where he had to hold off the physicality of Tonali marking him very tightly.
At this point one would think that Liverpool would take full control, but somehow they started letting Newcastle into the game, not least because Bruno Guimaraes became a man possessed and fought for every ball, ànd supported by Dan Burn who decided to target Konate. Their peristence paid off in the 55th minute, as they had a throw in the Liverpool half parralel to the Liverpoool final third, the long throw was defended by Liverpool heading it away only for it to fall to the feet of Tino Livramento - the Newcastle right back, who put in a pin point cross into the Liverpool penalty area for Guimaraes to head into Liverpool net with ease and full force from behind Kerkez who inexplicably turned his back to Bruno to stop him. The home crowd started to get very loud and give Newcastle hope that the game was not over. The game got more physical in midfield as Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton fought for every ball, to the point where both Tonali, and Joelinton had to be substituted.
Late on in the game as Liverpool seemed like they were completely losing control despite having Szoboszlai in midfield and Bradley on as a right back, Newcastle bought on their young striker Osula. Then in the 87th minute Newcastle had won a free kick in the middle of their own half, most of the team stayed in the Liverpool half as their goalkeeper came to take the free kick, Dan Burn was one of those in the Liverpool half with his back into Konate. The kick was taken and the ball looped over the midfield and had reached Burn who got enough of a touch on with his head that it went over Konate and inexplicably hit Konate's back and into the path of Osula who was being tracked by Gravenberch. Now it could be argued that maybe Gravenberch should have done something at that moment to put the striker off, but having being booked early in the game probably made him reluctant to do anything that may seem rash. So the inevitable happened and Osula carried the ball with a powerful run past Gravenberch to slot the ball low past the oncoming Alisson who was unable to stop the ball. What followed then was a period of intense pressure from Newcastle with all the momentum on their side. Liverpool looked completely hapless, unable to come out of their half, and up to now they have not had a shot at the Newcastle goal since Ekitike had scored - quite an alarming statistic if you think about the fact that in all that time Newcastle had been playing with 10 men !
Around the 95th minute Slot had decided to bring on Elliot and the young 16 year old Rio Ngumoha. Those substitutions say a lot about Slots character, with Liverpool looking likely to concede, most managers would bring on defensive reinforcements, but Slot was having none of that. He knew he could not leave with a point or loss and against 10 men he knows that his team should be winning especially as they were 2 goals up near the beginning of the half.
Rio went to the left wing as expected, in his first action when given the ball he took on two Newcastle defenders, pinging them back and looking for a way to cross. If Rio was supposed to be a secret then Liverpool did a poor job because as soon as he did have the ball somehow Newcastle knew it would take at least two defenders to keep this boy in check.
On the 110th minute Liverpool would construct a series of passes starting with Elliot, then Konate, then Chiesa, then Salah who waited for Szoboszlai to come into the penalty area, Salah played an angled low cross to him, but Szoboszlai being marked, did not touch the ball, he opted to let it go through his legs playing the perfect dummy, so the ball could reach the unmarked Rio in the penalty area, Rio did not even take a touch and hit the ball first time to curl the ball around the Newcastle goal keepers left side and into the top left of his goal. The moment felt surreal, Rio had become the youngest Liverpool player to score in a top flight game, and as it turned out the winning goal. There was no time left for Newcastle to come back from this, their energy was spent now.
This was a statement win for Liverpool, and they left with 2 more points than last season in the same fixture. But the performance from many players was poor, Wirtz was making runs into the pockets between Newcastle defenders and midfield but was never passed to, Salah was never in the game other than the pass that ended up at Rio's feet to score. Konate and Kerkez were awful, struggling in their defensive duties. Liverpool really need to improve before they face Arsenal, and the biggest relief from this game was Liverpool's captain Virgil did not sustain any injury from Anthony Gordon's reckless challenge, because Virgil had a fantastic game along with Szoboszlai. In fact the biggest take from this game is actually a headache in terms of Arne Slot's pick for his regular right-back, Szoboszlai did such a good job in that position it will be hard to replace him as a right back !!!
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