Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has called for clarity over Alexander Isak’s future after seeing his side edged out by suitors Liverpool in a five-goal thriller at St James’ Park.
Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was among the crowd as 16-year-old substitute Rio Ngumoha snatched a 3-2 win for the Reds – in the process becoming the fourth youngest goalscorer in Premier League history behind James Vaughan, James Milner and Wayne Rooney – deep into stoppage time amid reports the owners had met Isak earlier in the day.
Head coach Howe insisted after the game he was not party to what was said during those discussions, but admitted a decision over the Sweden international – the subject of a rejected £110million bid from the Reds – was needed sooner rather than later.
Howe said: “I’ve not been party to talks on this for a long time now. I’ve been preparing the team and giving all my energy to the players that want to play for Newcastle. I think that is where my energy is best put at the moment.
“We want clarity, we want to move forward, we want the narrative to change because we’re in the start of the season now.
“We’re into the action and we’ve got to get results, and we’ve got to try to focus on what we can control. We’ve given two really, really good performances, we’ve ended up with one point. That’s tough for us to take, especially in this moment where you’re looking for positives to cling to.
“But we battle through and we now go on to Leeds.”
On a night when much of the talk before kick-off surrounded Isak, the two sides produced a remarkable heavyweight bout as the Magpies’ 10 men came off the ropes to edge themselves to within seconds of a remarkable point.
Goals in each half from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike either side of Anthony Gordon’s dismissal looked to have ensured victory for the visitors, but Bruno Guimaraes’ 57th-minute header gave Newcastle hope and Will Osula’s equaliser set up a grandstand finish in which fellow substitute Ngumoha denied a draw from the home side’s grasp in the 10th minute of stoppage time.
Gordon was sent off by referee Simon Hooper after a VAR review of his untidy challenge on Virgil van Dijk, although Howe had sympathy with the man he had asked to deputise for Isak.
He said: “It’s an unfortunate one, I think he’s slightly unlucky with it. Everyone has told me it’s a clear red; my first opinion was slightly different, but maybe I’ve got the wrong angle, so I’ve got sympathy for him.”
Asked if the three-match suspension Gordon now faces makes Isak’s departure even less likely, Howe said: “Yes, of course. If you do the maths, we’re running out of options in that position.”
Opposite number Arne Slot was delighted to emerge from a remarkable game with three points, but admitted his side had been lucky to get them.
Asked about Ngumoha’s last-gasp winner, he said: “It’s of course special for him to score a goal in a moment like this.
“We know how it feels – last season, we conceded [at Newcastle] in the 89th minute, and now we were the lucky ones because that’s what we were. We were lucky to get a win over the line.
“This means more to me than when we play good football because tonight had, for me, nothing to do with tactics or good football. It was just a great game to watch, but not because of tactics or good football, but because every single second of the game, everybody was at the front of their seat.”
