Goodness knows what the man who was not there made of it all. Might Alexander Isak have felt the tiniest bit guilty at the sight of his increasingly overwrought understudy, Anthony Gordon, missing a couple of extremely presentable chances before being sent off for a ridiculous first-half tackle on Virgil van Dijk?
And how did Newcastle’s currently striking star striker assess Hugo Ekitiké’s attacking performance for Liverpool? Even as Isak continues to endeavour to engineer a move to Anfield, did he celebrate Will Osula’s unexpected late Newcastle leveller to make it 2-2? What, precisely, did he feel when 16-year-old visiting substitute Rio Ngumoha won it for the champions in the 100th minute?
Given that the Sweden striker was watching from up the road in Northumberland, we will never know, but one thing was abundantly clear: the emotions engendered by the summer’s longest and most acrimonious transfer saga provoked a night of compelling, sometimes downright wild drama. As Liverpool’s manager Arne Slot said afterwards: “I’m not sure it was a football match today.”
By kick-off it had been dubbed “El Isako” and Ryan Gravenberch’s booking for a wince-inducing tackle on Bruno Guimarães swiftly set the tone as this 100mph rerun of last season’s Carabao Cup final opened in highly charged, almost anarchic mode.
If Liverpool wanted revenge for that Wembley defeat, the sheer, feral fury of a Newcastle crowd incensed by Slot’s pursuit of Isak and Liverpool’s perceived audacity in hijacking Howe’s move for Ekitiké transmitted itself to an electrically charged home team.
Before too long Gordon would self-destruct but, for a while, he rattled Liverpool. The England winger, once again deputising for Isak out of position at centre-forward, may not be exactly reliable in front of goal but he remains extremely clever at winning dangerous free-kicks. Accordingly Slot twice lost his cool after complaining that Gordon dives had earned Newcastle underserved set-pieces.
It was left to a deep-sitting Van Dijk and company to stay calm and slow the tempo at every opportunity. At times they lived dangerously and Alisson Becker looked relieved to see Gordon head fractionally over the bar from Harvey Barnes’s cross. But the impressive approach work of the excellent Sandro Tonali was repeatedly undone by the lack of a specialist striker.
The directors’ box contained Newcastle’s chair, Yasir al-Rumayyan – making a rare visit from Riyadh – flanked by a sizeable, and serious looking delegation from the club’s owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. On Monday afternoon some members of that delegation joined Newcastle’s minority owner Jamie Reuben in visiting Isak at home to try to persuade him into a change of heart.
Considering that earlier in the day Wolves had rejected a £50m bid from St James’ Park for their striker Jørgen Strand Larsen, the boardroom chat with Liverpool executives can hardly have been dull.
Neither was a match that was initially dominated by a home side who, nonetheless, fell behind when an unsighted Nick Pope was beaten by Gravenberch’s low, slightly deflected shot from the edge of the area in the 35th minute.
Pope enjoyed a reprieve when Mohamed Salah’s subtly curving cross proved just slightly too clever for a startled looking Ekitiké. But then an intervention by the video assistant referee resulted in Gordon’s dismissal for poleaxing Van Dijk with an unpleasant, unnecessary and utterly brainless tackle from behind.
Given that it involved the boyhood Liverpool fan lunging into the back of the defender’s standing leg as Van Dijk attempted to clear the ball, Gordon could hardly complain.
Howe’s players had arguably paid the price for playing on the edge. Initially all this black-and-white adrenaline had unnerved and unsettled Slot’s side but, not for the first time, Gordon carried things too far and imploded.
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Slot had not even emerged from the tunnel when, 23 seconds into the second half, Ekitiké showed Newcastle precisely what they are missing. The Frenchman’s burst beyond Tonali and his pass to the left cued up Cody Gakpo. When the Dutchman’s ensuing shot was blocked, Ekitiké reacted first to the rebound, drilling an unstoppable shot past Pope.
Either side of their goals, Liverpool had taken surprisingly few touches in Newcastle’s area but their efficiency when it mattered most had hurt their hosts.
Not that it was quite over just yet. When Tino Livramento curled a cross into the area, Guimarães capitalised on slapdash defending by Milos Kerkez to head Newcastle’s 10 men right back into things in the 57th minute.
Suddenly Liverpool almost looked the team at a numerical disadvantage, but then injuries began stemming the tide of the black-and-white waves. Newcastle could certainly have done without losing Tonali, with a nasty looking shoulder injury, before the influential Joelinton limped off as Jacob Ramsey stepped off the bench to make his home debut following a £40m move from Aston Villa.
Ramsey, though, was not the night’s most influential home substitute. That accolade belonged to Osula. The Denmark Under-21 forward may not be quite the finished article but he is at least a proper centre-forward and when Dan Burn overpowered Ibrahima Konaté in the tussle to meet Pope’s long kick, he nipped in, stretched out a boot and equalised with two minutes of normal time to go.
Unfortunately for Howe a visiting replacement proved an even bigger gamechanger. Ngumoha marked his Premier League debut by becoming the youngest scorer in Liverpool’s history after curling a sumptuous shot beyond Pope at the end of a gloriously fluent attacking move. Maybe Slot doesn’t need Isak after all.
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