All eyes were on North East England on Monday as Liverpool visited Newcastle United in the Premier League and amid an emotional backdrop, the defending champions emerged with a dramatic 3-2 win.
The atmosphere was turbo-charged before kickoff given the uncertainty around Alexander Isak's future, with the Newcastle striker linked all summer long to a Liverpool move, to the extent that he's now training separately from the team while things are sorted out. Things went from bad to worse for Newcastle when, after a raucous opening half-hour, Liverpool took the lead via Ryan Gravenberch, who fired in a low shot that snuck inside Nick Pope's near post.
With the score 1-0, Liverpool were further boosted by a red card to Anthony Gordon, the stand-in forward in Isak's absence. His late slide on Virgil van Dijk was initially seen as a yellow card offense, though it was upgraded to red upon VAR review before half-time. Then, within 30 seconds of the second half kick-off, Liverpool doubled their lead as Hugo Ekitike coolly finished inside the area after Newcastle lost possession.
Game over, right? Think again. Bruno Guimarães' header from a set piece made it 2-1 and with a wave of pressure in the final 10 minutes, the hosts equalized as William Osula snuck in to finish past Alisson after a long free kick was flicked on and fell kindly for the Magpies' substitute.
Then, as if that wasn't dramatic enough, teenage sub Rio Ngumoha came on in injury time and finished brilliantly with a first-time, side-footed finish after ghosting into the penalty area and running onto Mo Salah's low cross. It was a stunning end to a pulsating game in which no love was lost and three points went to Arne Slot's Reds.
Here's how things played out at St. James's Park.