Rio Ngumoha was the hero for Liverpool as he secured a dramatic late win at Newcastle.
The 16-year-old came off the bench and guided a powerful strike past Nick Pope to give Arne Slot’s men all three points on a night where they were largely second-best.
Liverpool had established a 2-0 lead after Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike’s strikes at the St James’ cauldron. Anthony Gordon’s sending-off after a rash foul on Virgil van Dijk had helped.
But Newcastle looked like they had at least bagged a point – probably the minimum they deserved – after Bruno Guimaraes pulled one back and then young William Osula equalised in the 88th minute to answer their striker woes.
CRAIG HOPE and LEWIS STEELE bring you their player ratings.
Rio Ngumoha proved the hero for Liverpool as he scored a 100th-minute winner off the bench on his debut at Newcastle
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3)
Nick Pope – 5
Could he have done better with Gravenberch’s opener? The England goalkeeper was rooted to the spot and did not even attempt to dive.
Kieran Trippier – 6
Covered well in a defensive sense and bombed down the right flank causing Kerkez a problem – but the final ball was lacking.
Fabian Schar – 7
Made some crunching tackles to set the tempo for the night. Unlucky to not deflect Gravenberch’s effort wide.
Kieran Trippier caused Milos Kerkez problems but his end product was lacking
Dan Burn – 6.5 (Booked)
Booked for a dangerous challenge on Salah just before half time.
Tino Livramento – 7.5
Brilliant cross for Guimaraes’ goal and was one of the bright sparks of the first half an hour for Newcastle with a lively display up and down the left side.
Bruno Guimaraes – 8 (Booked) (MOTM)
A true captain’s performance in an emotionally-charged game. Lifted his team after the red card and scored a nice goal.
Sandro Tonali – 7
Similar to Guimaraes, he caused a nuisance early on but the Liverpool midfield took control of the game after the red card.
Bruno Guimaraes put in a captain’s performance and lifted his team as he pulled a goal back
Joelinton – 6.5
Put himself about and made some big challenges. Enjoyed his off-ball battles but, like others, could not find the key pass to unlock the defence early on.
Anthony Elanga – 7
Brilliant game, causing all sorts of problems with his diagonal runs in behind the Liverpool back line. A brilliant athlete.
Anthony Gordon – 5 (Sent off)
An outstanding first 45 minutes, the most dangerous player on the pitch. But then he let down his team with a horrendous tackle.
Anthony Gordon was outstanding before his horrendous tackle saw him sent off
Harvey Barnes – 6.5
Played some lovely balls in that opening period and could have had an assist if Gordon connected better with a headed effort.
Substitutes
Lewis Miley (for Tonali, 66min) – 6
Jacob Ramsey (for Joelinton, 75) – NA
Lewis Hall (for Trippier, 76) – NA
William Osula (for Barnes, 77) – NA
Malick Thiaw (for Schar, 81) – NA
Not used: Ramsdale, Botman, Murphy, Willock.
Manager: Eddie Howe – 7
Not his fault that Gordon lost control – Howe’s tactics were working until then.
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1)
Alisson – 7
Commanding display and showed leadership to take the sting out of proceedings by taking his time when Liverpool were under the cosh.
Dominik Szoboszlai – 6
Has played right back in friendlies before but never in a competitive match – and this was a daring performance. Dived into tackles early doors but settled and defended well.
Ibrahima Konate – 4.5 (Booked)
Poor, as he was last week. Lost possession cheaply and was suspect for Osula’s equaliser late on.
Ibrahima Konate was poor for the second week running and lost possession cheaply
Virgil van Dijk – 6
Lucky to continue after the nasty tackle from Gordon. Needed all his experience to lead his troops through the hostile atmosphere.
Milos Kerkez – 6.5
Much better than a pair of sub-par displays in the Community Shield and Premier League opener but must do better for Newcastle’s goal.
Ryan Gravenberch – 7 (Booked) (MOTM)
Take his stunning goal out and Gravenberch still scores highly but, after missing the first two matches of the season, his return was a huge boost. Silky footballer.
Ryan Gravenberch was man of the match and his return was a huge boost to Liverpool
Curtis Jones – 7
Should have put the game to bed on 42 minutes when Salah put the ball on a plate for him but it evaded him. A good performance overall, though.
Mohamed Salah – 6.5
A quiet first half but still caused problems. With Ekitike and Wirtz coming in, there is less burden on the Egyptian these days.
Florian Wirtz – 5.5
Fair to say we can file his first three weeks of competitive football in England under ‘more to come’.
Florian Wirtz struggled again and there is definitely more to come from him moving forward
Cody Gakpo – 7
Given all the new signings and money spent, Gakpo is not the shiniest toy in the box for Liverpool – but he scored a goal last week and got two assists here. A very strong start.
Hugo Ekitike – 7
Who needs Alexander Isak? Three games and three sumptuous finishes for the Frenchman, this one coming after a poor first half. A shrewd signing so far.
Substitutes
Conor Bradley (for Wirtz, 80) – NA
Federico Chiesa (for Chiesa, 80) – NA
Rio Ngumoha (for Gakpo, 90+6) – NA
Harvey Elliott (for Jones, 90+6) – NA
Not used: Mamardashvili, Endo, Gomez, Leoni, Robertson.
Manager: Arne Slot – 6
Got his XI spot on despite forced changes.
Referee: Simon Hooper – 6
Correct call with the red card.
