16-year-old Rio Ngumoha makes Liverpool history in fiery Newcastle clash

Of all the possible scripts and storylines that football fans could have imagined prior to Liverpool’s trip to Newcastle, I don’t think many would have predicted the instant Premier League classic that unfolded over the course of 100 minutes.

In what has rapidly become one of the most bitter top-flight rivalries, intensity, and adrenaline were at an all-time high thanks to the actions of former Magpies striker Alexander Isak, who placed himself on strike to help push his move to Liverpool over the line. The Swede wasn’t in attendance at St James’ Park and so failed to witness first-hand the remarkable turn of events that saw Liverpool’s rising star Rio Ngumoha break Geordie hearts with a last-gasp winner.

In a game that lacked quality but certainly not passion and ferocity, the standard was set in the early stages, with Newcastle choosing to follow the orders of a fan banner that read ‘Get Into Them’, flying into challenges and arguably being lucky to avoid two cautions in the opening five minutes. Instead, it was Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch who picked up the first card of the game in the seventh minute to the delight of the home support.

Howe rallied his troops to fight back to 2-2

Having controlled the opening exchanges by starting the fastest and limiting the away side’s attacking output, Newcastle were dealt a sucker punch when Slot’s side took the lead against the run of play, with Gravenberch striking a beauty in the 35th minute to silence the home support. It went from bad to worse for the Toon when emergency striker Anthony Gordon, in typical fashion, hunted down Van Dijk and clattered into the Liverpool skipper, leaving the Dutchman writhing on the floor in clear discomfort. Initially given as a yellow card by referee Hooper, a quick look at the screen with recommendation from VAR upgraded the decision to red and left the home side a goal and a man down at the break.

When Hugo Ekitike, the French striker who snubbed the Magpies to join the Reds instead, doubled the visitors’ lead just 30 seconds after the restart, it seemed that the die had been cast, as many would have envisioned a comfortable, one-way second 45 in favour of Slot’s men. However, it was anything but straightforward, as, despite playing with a man less, Howe rallied his troops to fight back to 2-2. Captain Bruno Guimarães started the fightback with a back-post header in the 57th minute, and from then on it looked as if Liverpool had lost all sense of composure and certainty, with substitute William Osula equalising with 88 minutes on the clock.

All eyes will be on the return fixture to see if the two teams can replicate the drama

But it was Liverpool who had the final say in this crazy encounter when, in the tenth of 11 added minutes at the end of the 90, 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha had his dream moment. The Reds finally made the most of having the extra man, and an overload on the left-hand side presented the teenager with space in the box, following Szoboszlai’s clever dummy, to clinically finish past the helpless Nick Pope and become his club’s youngest-ever scorer.

A match that certainly lived up to all the pre-game hype, all eyes will be on the return fixture to see if the two teams can replicate the drama. Most likely, a certain Swedish striker will be lining up in Liverpool red next time around.