An incredible drama evening unfolded at St James Park on Monday evening, when Newcastle hosted Liverpool in the second round of its Premier League campaign.
The match between these two clubs has been a fiery issue for some time, but at this point, the unresolved situation regarding Alexander Isaac’s future has caused additional friction. The atmosphere within the stadium was therefore naturally indicted for hostile feelings towards the visitors.
Still, the home fans ultimately sloped the venue completely. Ryan Gravenburch fired Liverpool first in the 35th minute, making it even worse for Newcastle when Anthony Gordon received a straight red card for a Virgil Van Dick’s foul in the first half injury time. After the break, Hugo Echicicke doubled Liverpool’s advantages within a minute, but Bruno Guimaré pulled one back for the magpie on the 57th. Newcastle’s substitute William Osla equalized, making it unimaginable with just two minutes remaining. However, the final words fell to Rio Nugumoha, a young man from Liverpool.
team
While Isaac, who is reportedly his days at the club are over, is currently training away from the team, Eddie Howe, the non-Swedish striker, should choose a perfect team.
Nick Pope stayed in goal, Tino Libramento to the left and Kieran was adjacent to the centre-back duo of Dan Byrne and Fabian Shah on the right. Sandro Tonari, Jollington and Bruno Ziumaraise formed a midfield trio, with Anthony Gordon standing in the center, with Harvey Burns on the left and Anthony Elanga on the right.
Meanwhile, Arne Slot, a visitor dugout, was free from the injured trio of midfielders Alexis Mac Alistair and Stephen Valjetic and right-back Jeremy Fripon.
Alison Becker remains the number one choice among posts, and was once again chosen before Giorgi Mamaldashvili. Virgil van Dik and Ibrahima Conate had Milos Kerkez on the left, and midfielder Dominique Schuboschlei was given the role of auxiliary right-back as Frimon Out and Connor Bradley were not fit for 90 minutes. Ryan Gravenbellch slotted next to Curtis Jones in the middle of the park, with Florian Wiltz playing a more advanced role, Hugo Ekichike had Cody Gakupo’s support from the left and Mohamed Sarah from the right.
Match Summary
Newcastle sculpted the authority over the Premier League champions at once and tried to use a very physical approach. Gordon, a former Everton player who had been linked to Liverpool for a while, has caused a lot of problems with Liverpool’s backline, showing a ton of motivation and plenty of talent. He had two great opportunities. One did very well so that his headers crossed the bar and the other Szoboszlai cushioned the shot from close range and Allison could pick up the ball without any problems.
Ball spent most of his time in half of Liverpool, insisting that umpire Simon Hooper would make plenty of contact with Newcastle’s hands. The contest was a huge reminder of last season’s Carabao Cup final. It was when the trio of Tonari, Jollington and Guimarah wiped the floor completely in Liverpool’s mid-range.
However, Liverpool’s advance to half of the pitch became more frequent over time, with one such opportunity that brought Graven Birch, deciding that there was clearly no better option, fired what appeared to be a desperate low shot from range. It somehow slipped through the forest of the player ahead and rubbed the inside of the post before hitting the back of the net. The Pope stood incredibly, and the visitors were ahead.
The contest was even more even for the rest of the day, as the home side needed time to deal with this sudden shock. Gordon was still making his mark and working tirelessly in advance, but he reverted as his immeasurable desires led him to make a very slow tackle for Van Dik. The referee initially offered a yellow card for that and had a lot to do to suppress broken lines between the two team players, but ultimately the VAR told him to confirm the decision on the pitch side screen. Gordon had already left when the decision was changed and Hooper showed him the red card.
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After the break, Liverpool quickly killed the game and the mission certainly looked successful when Ekitique advanced the ball and played one-two with Gakupo (who also supported the opener for Greygunbellch) and played one-to-two to make past Pope 0-2.
But what happened afterwards serves only as a great will of the pure will owned by the Newcastle players. Down two goals with the players, they reestablished domination and forced the Reds to defend for their lives. And their efforts really began to pay off in the 57th minute. Guy Malays and Kerkes fought on the cross of Livlament from the left in a distant post. The Newcastle midfielder won that duel, entered from close range, and Allison couldn’t do anything about it.
But luck was not on Newcastle’s side. Tonari was kicked out with injuries in the 66th minute, and Jollington continued his lawsuit 10 minutes later. Manager Eddie Howe decided to make it triple at that point, with Trippia and Burns giving way to Lewis Hall and William Osla. Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey, the latter recently signed by Aston Villa, replacing Tonari and Jollington, respectively.
In the 81st minute, another injury issue forced Cher to leave the pitch. Malick Chiau was sent, but not before Slot made changes to the Liverpool pair. Federico Chiesa and Connor Bradley came in and Wirtz and Ekitike made the way. Szoboszlai returned to his place in the middle when Bradley advanced to the correct defense.
With still a lead to protect, Liverpool dared even move the backline on the set pieces, and the decision was expensive. A free kick, taken from the middle of the park, was launched on their line, and Conate retreated to try and clear it, burning, burning 6’5 inches, thwarting him, and the ball bounced back into Osla’s path.
Harvey Elliott and Rio ngumoha replaced Jones and Gakpo, and slot’s response at that point turned out to be decisive.
Trying to make the most of the momentum and 11 minutes of extra time, Newcastle attacked for a winner. Liverpool were forced to defend several corners late, but then visitors found a way to push the magpie back. The 16-year-old winger won all three points for Liverpool and showed no hesitation as he blew past the Pope to break the hearts of the home crowd.
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Rio is a record-breaking teenager
Ngumoha’s goal was not only a winner in the Premier League blockbuster, but also his first winner in the Premier League, with four days remaining until his 17th birthday, making history as Liverpool’s youngest goal scorer ever. He also became the fourth youngest goal scorer in Premier League history, after James Vaughan, James Milner and Wayne Rooney.
When Louis Diaz’s departure for Bayern Munich was imminent early this summer, Liverpool was strongly tied with Real Madrid’s Rodrigo Goes. However, more reliable sources have played these links and state that Mersey Cedar believes Gakupo and Nugumoha are sufficient options for the left attacking side.
For the time being, they seemed right.
szoboszlai works well with “Torrent’s Role”
With Frimpong losing the action and Bradley unable to play the full game, Slot decided to put Szoboszlai on the right defense, and Hungary International played a very good game. Not only was he solid defensively and extremely difficult to pass, but he frequently moved into the middle of the park, the way Trent Alexander Arnold had been doing for some time before moving to Real Madrid at the end of last season.
Slot had previously tested Jones in that role, but Sobojirai’s performance at St. James Park was particularly good, clearly giving Slot another option of the future.
Did the situation at ISAK affect the game?
This is probably the biggest issue of all in this match and how it unfolds.
Missing Isaac’s quality striker would be a major blow to any club, regardless of Gordon’s documented ability to annoy Conate and Vandic. Some may argue that the Swedes, known for his finishing skills, will place at least one of Gordon’s two great opportunities.
Newcastle dealt well with his absence and proved dangerous even after Gordon’s first half fire. However, there is no denying the fact that a ranked high quality striker makes a difference.
Isaac, Conate, Leeds, Arsenal
With the transfer window approaching its end, both Newcastle and Liverpool hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible. At this point, Liverpool only has Ekitique as a designated striker, and Newcastle doesn’t even have that as he lost Callum Wilson early in the summer and repeatedly failed to pursue Brentford’s Joan Wissa.
Many believe that if Newcastle allows Isaac to join Liverpool at a price found in Liverpool, many believe it is the best (it is reportedly seen that the £110 million offer was rejected as Newcastle demands £150 million), but the question is, where is Newcastle and Isaac if that doesn’t happen?
Like Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Isaac believes he could be reintegrated into Eddie Howe’s team. Wait and see what happens.
Meanwhile, Newcastle faced off in a clash between the Premier League champions and the runners-ups of the past two seasons, hours before Liverpool was welcomed to Arsenal to Anfield, in a clash between the Premier League champions and the last two seasons of consecutive runners-ups, as they faced newly promoted Leeds United on Elland Road on Saturday.
Liverpool has their own issues with players who may be looking to move from the club. Ibrahima Konate joined last year’s contract and has already rejected what the club offered as a new deal, and his performance at this point is unconvincing.
With Jarrell Kuanza set out for Bayer Lebakusen early in the summer and Joe Gomez continues to challenge injuries, slots don’t have many options at the heart of their defense. Giovanni Leoni arrived from Palma and sat on the bench at St James Park, but at age 18, he has yet to prove he is ready for the Premier League. Crystal Palace Captain Marc Guech is linked, but it seems there is not much movement on the front line. Again, let’s wait and see.