Virgil van Dijk embraces 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha who scored the winner in Liverpool's 3-2 victory over Newcastle | Photo Credit: Liverpool/X
Rio Ngumoha scored the winning goal in the closing seconds as Liverpool defeated ten-man Newcastle United 3-2 in their English Premier League (EPL) at St. James’ Park on Monday.
The 16-year-old wonderkid, who is of Nigerian heritage, stole the headlines on his debut EPL appearance in a pulsating, end-to-end match as the champions survived Newcastle’s late charge.
Alexander Isak’s continued absence for Newcastle amid Liverpool’s concrete attempt to sign him provided the backdrop for a feisty encounter in which Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike put the away side ahead before Bruno Guimaraes and William Osula dragged the Magpies back into the match.
Newcastle United dominated, but it was the Reds who took the lead against the run of play through Gravenberch on 35 minutes. The midfielder’s shot from the edge of the area deflected off Fabian Schar for 1-0. It went from bad to worse for the home side either side of halftime. Anthony Gordon received a straight red card for a dangerous tackle before the break, before Ekitike made it 2-0 seconds after the restart with a well-placed shot into the bottom corner.
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Newcastle, however, dug deep to stun the EPL defending champions. Guimaraes nodded home Tino Liveamento’s free kick on 57 minutes before Osula made fans forget Isak with an instinctive finish in the box for 2-2 on 88 minutes.
The champions recovered from the daze to provide the final drama, and it was 16-year-old supersub Ngumoha who finished off a team move deep in added time to give Liverpool all three points. He became the fourth 16-year-old to score the winning goal in an EPL match.
Liverpool joined Arsenal and Tottenham as the three sides with a 100% record after two matches, and the Reds are unbeaten in 18 EPL matches against Newcastle.
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