A sense of alienation has deepened in Newcastle United this summer. The sense of being othered, the sense of being discriminated against, of being laughed at by men seated at mahogany tables embossed with the words ‘Red Cartel’, has been crystallised by Alexander Isak’s desperation to abandon the club at all costs.
Isak’s suitors, the Premier League champions, walked out at St James’s Park just before 8pm and just before the theme to Local Hero began to play. The first thing Liverpool saw was a plea to the Newcastle players from their fans, a plea that was more of a demand. It was written on a sign opposite the tunnel. ‘Get into Them,’ it said, simply.
The roar that greeted kick-off sent shivers down the spine. It was full of fury and frustration and a lust for retribution. The volume did not drop. Every tackle, every challenge, brought yells thick with that desire for vengeance and dignity restored. Hugo Ekitike, who chose Liverpool over Newcastle in the summer, was singled out for special hostility.
This was a night from hell for the hosts, a night of a player sent off and others lost to injury, a night of spirit in the face of adversity from the ten men left on the pitch, spirit that counted for nothing when Liverpool scored an 100th minute winner for a stunning 3-2 victory.
Part of the visceral energy coursing around the ground stemmed from the fact that Liverpool embody everything Newcastle want to be. They are also the epitome of everything Newcastle detest and much that they envy.
They play in a city, as Liverpool do, that has often felt pushed to the margins, but Liverpool are part of the English football elite. They have built a pattern of consistent success, both domestically and in the Champions League.
Liverpool’s teenage sensation Rio Ngumaho grabbed a late winner for the Premier League champions
William Osula thought he’d grabbed an unlikely point for the Magpies after coming on as a late substitute
The youngster, the only available striker in the squad, nipped in infront of Alisson to draw the home side level in the 88th minute
Liverpool
Arsenal
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Over the summer, Liverpool signed some of the best players in the world, most notably Florian Wirtz and Ekitike, to bolster an already formidable squad. They are a club the best want to play for. Rejection is not a sting they feel often.
Liverpool are old money, too. They’re the football establishment. Newcastle have their noses pressed up against the glass of that establishment and, to their fury, even the riches of their Saudi Arabian owners, have not gained them entry to the club.
The Isak saga has been compelling from the outside but it has been a humiliation for Newcastle. Their best player wants to leave. The rejection has been cruelly public. Other players have turned down the chance to play for them, too. Newcastle have become the Jilted John of the Premier League.
That was why St James’s Park was seething when the two teams emerged from the tunnel.
That was why the roars carried so much ferocity. And Newcastle obeyed instructions. They got into them. They tore into Liverpool for the first 20 minutes, hurried them out of the stride and left Arne Slot throwing up his arms in exasperation on the bench.
And even if Newcastle are missing part of their forward line, they still have the most formidable midfield in the country.
Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes dominated the first 25 minutes of this game. Wirtz looked overwhelmed and overpowered by the frantic dynamic of the contest. He barely got a kick.
Newcastle pressed and pressed but could not take any of the chances they created. Anthony Gordon headed over. Anthony Elanga, one player who didn’t turn Newcastle down in the summer, arrowed in a cross that Dominik Szoboszlai stifled as Gordon tried to prod it home.
The home side were reduced to 10 men when Anthony Gordon had his yellow card for a foul on Virgil van Dijk upgraded to red after a pitchside reveiew
Ryan Gravenberch put the Premier League champions ahead with a goal against the run of play
Hugo Ekitike netted Liverpool’s second just seconds into the second half, having endured the boos of Newcastle fans
Magpies skipper Bruno Guimaraes sparked life into the home side with his powered header past Alisson just before the hour
It was tempting to think that, with Isak in the team, Newcastle would be a couple of goals ahead. Then, 10 minutes before half time, the home side’s energy dropped for the first time and Liverpool took advantage immediately.
Ryan Gravenberch found some space on the edge of the Newcastle area, the Newcastle defence gave him time to set himself and Gravenberch fired it through a pair of legs and in off the post. Nick Pope barely moved. ‘Isak would have saved it,’ one wag wrote on social media.
Curtis Jones should have put Liverpool further ahead when he ran on to Mo Salah’s perfect pass ten yards out but missed his kick as he tried to turn the ball into the net. Salah turned away sharply in disappointment.
But the game swung further away from Newcastle in added time. Gordon hurtled across the pitch to try to close down Virgil van Dijk but in his eagerness to thwart his clearance, Gordon launched himself at Van Dijk and raked his studs down the back of his heel.
Photographs showed red welts on Van Dijk’s calf where Gordon made contact. It was a reckless, foolish challenge and Gordon was out of control. Referee Simon Hooper checked the footage and sent him off.
Gordon will miss the next three games. He was the last man Newcastle could afford to lose. Now, unless Isak can be persuaded to abandon his strike, they do not even have an auxiliary centre forward, let alone a bona fide one.
Less than 30 seconds after the break, Liverpool twisted the knife. It was Ekitike, of course, who scored with a low, side-footed shot and it felt as if the match was over but Guimaraes pulled a goal back with a header from a Tino Livramento cross before the hour.
That was the cue for Newcastle to stage an impassioned fightback. Guimaraes whipped up the crowd with every tackle, Tonali played on with what looked like a dislocated shoulder, the ground was in tumult.
The winger’s impressive pre-season performances have seen him fastracked into the first team despite still being days away from his 17th birthday
Ngumoha’s effort sparked wild scenes from the visitors, who would have been fortunate to take a point from the match
Eddie Howe’s side, led by the imperious Guimaraes, will be devestated but soon reflect on a superb performance
Suddenly, even though Newcastle lost Joelinton to what looked like a serious groin injury, Liverpool were holding on. Then, with two minutes of normal time left, substitute Will Osula ran on to a long ball and steered it past Alisson.
The rejoicing was unbridled but then, as the crowd prepared to celebrate a draw that would have felt like sweet revenge, Liverpool sub Rio Ngumoha finished off a sweeping Liverpool move with aplomb.
It almost felt too cruel after all Newcastle had endured. Not even Jilted John suffered through nights like this.
