Newcastle United and Liverpool produced a night of drama on Tyneside that contained every classic element that makes theirs the Premier League’s new bitter rivalry.
The purported villain of the piece, Newcastle’s rebel striker Alexander Isak, was not even at St James’ Park for an adrenaline-fuelled episode between the club that wants to keep him and the Premier League champions who want to add his name to their star-studded attacking cast list.
Who knows what Isak would have made of a game that was low on quality but packed with just about everything else, and settled in the 100th minute by Rio Ngumoha, who became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history at 16 years and 361 days.
It was a sensational evening, not fashioned from classic football, but by the emotions charged by what is now assuming all the contents of a classic, long-running feud.
It sits along some vintage encounters between the two teams, not least the two memorable Liverpool 4-3 wins back in 1996 and 1997. The rivalry is well and truly back.
First, the bare details.
Newcastle looked down and out as Liverpool led 2-0 within 30 seconds of the second-half restart, but the champions wobbled in the most alarming fashion as Eddie Howe’s side defied their numerical disadvantage to draw level through captain Bruno Guimaraes and substitute Will Osula, who struck in the 88th minute.
Ngumoha provided the final twist in the plot, but this barely touched the sides of how Liverpool walked into a storm of Geordie ill-feeling and somehow came out victorious, despite their own worst efforts.
The long-running Isak saga has ramped up tensions, especially at the Newcastle end, where they have been affronted by how the Swedish striker has become seemingly unsettled to the point of no return by Liverpool who, with indications they would bid £120m – nowhere near Newcastle’s £150m valuation – then offered a ‘paltry’ £110m.
The fact Liverpool had also helped themselves to a prime Newcastle transfer target when they signed striker Hugo Ekitike in a £70m deal from Eintracht Frankfurt added even more spice.
The list of subplots would have provided an intriguing backdrop to what are usually pre-match boardroom pleasantries, with Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan in town to make his presence felt.
Newcastle enjoyed their greatest day in recent history when they beat Liverpool in last season’s Carabao Cup final, but there was an atmosphere of naked retribution inside St James’ Park even before this game got under way.
Ekitike was a target even when he was in the dressing room, Newcastle fans jeering his name loudly when it was read out before the game.
A Newcastle banner stretching along a stand read “Get Into Them”. The team followed the advice to the letter and then some.
The high emotion and fury sweeping around the stadium, with Liverpool in the line of fire, was counterproductive as the hosts lacked any composure and measure, for all their domination of territory and possession.
Liverpool delivered a sucker punch when Ryan Gravenberch put them ahead, the whole affair then boiling over when Anthony Gordon, who had attracted the ire of Arne Slot with some dramatic falls under challenges, launched a reckless challenge at Virgil van Dijk.
With the volume rising, referee Simon Hooper consulted the screen but the outcome was a formality. The mood at St James’ Park darkened further.
Gordon’s tackle was symptomatic of how Newcastle were not in control of their emotions, despite the fact Liverpool had looked like rabbits in the headlights at the slightest sign of pressure.
The England international’s forthcoming three-match suspension also adds another line to the script.
He was being used as an emergency striker with Isak an outcast, so how can Howe contemplate a sale when resources are now so threadbare?
And then came the twists and turns of the second half, with a new page written in Liverpool’s history as Ngumoha – who turns 17 on Friday – rounded it all off in unforgettable fashion.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot celebrates with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who became the youngest scorer in the club’s history with the winner at Newcastle
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot celebrates with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who became the youngest scorer in the club’s history with the winner at Newcastle
The cause of this friction, Liverpool’s interest in Isak, will continue to the end of the transfer window and probably beyond.
Newcastle’s supporters were in no mood to forgive or forget how their star striker has, in their eyes, betrayed them, and they were unsparing towards the club they hold responsible as the catalyst for his desire to leave.
This is now shaping up as a conflict for the ages, especially as it is unclear how the story that has caused the antagonism will end.
Liverpool’s fans revelled in how their interest in Isak has caused such rage among the Toon Army, their chants of “Hand Him Over Newcastle” were greeted with a frenzy of indignation.
Newcastle need a resolution somehow, even if fences look almost impossible to repair with Isak. They cannot allow him to be the spectre hanging over every game.
Liverpool won this particular battle, but the other big takeaway on this evidence is that they need to focus their attention on signing a defender, presumably Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi, before making any definitive decision on Isak.
As against Bournemouth in their first game of the season at Anfield, Liverpool let slip a 2-0 lead before winning late on, looking horribly vulnerable in defence in the process.
The advantage they forged for themselves here flattered them as they piled up mistakes at the back and carelessly conceded possession with regularity.
Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was at St James Park for the game against Liverpool
Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was at St James’ Park for the game against Liverpool
Slot should be seriously concerned about how they were shaken up so badly by Newcastle’s 10 men. Indeed, before Ngumoha’s strike, it was Newcastle who looked more likely to score.
Liverpool, in only two games admittedly, have looked nothing like the side that strolled to the Premier League last season with such poise, apart from the fact they are still winning games.
Ibrahima Konate, the player most at risk from Guehi’s potential arrival and one who has yet to agree a new contract, was as uncertain as he was against Bournemouth. Slot also has yet to find the tweak to ensure he brings the best out of £116m attacker Florian Wirtz, who was substituted with 10 minutes left.
Left-back Milos Kerkez is still settling in, but the chaotic nature of Liverpool’s backline could have Slot pondering the return of the experienced Andy Robertson, who has the proven quality and greater understanding with his defensive colleagues.
Newcastle will be nursing their wounds over this loss as they try to find a way to end the Isak impasse.
This rivalry, like the discussions around Isak’s future, is one that will run and run.–BBC
