Liverpool continued their splendid start in the Premier League 2025-26 season, as they beat Newcastle 3-2 at St James' Park on Monday. The victory made Liverpool one of only three clubs in the competition to win both of their opening matches.
Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring for the defending champions before the referee showed a direct red card to Anthony Gordon in the dying minutes of the first half. Hugo Ekitike doubled the lead within a minute of the start of the second half before Newcastle pulled two goals back through Bruno Guimarães and William Osula. Just when it seemed that the game would finish in a draw, 16-year-old debutant, Rio Ngomuha, scored the winner after slamming the ball into the bottom corner.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was a rock at the back and didn't allow the home side to score a single goal through routine play. Both of Newcastle's goals came via set pieces. The encounter had it all for a football fan who took time out on a Monday night: injuries, send-offs, and five goals.
"We all know it's a difficult place to come. There was a lot of oil this week in order to get Newcastle, especially, fired up, and what happened tonight was expected. I think for us the disappointing part is that we conceded two goals from set pieces, and that shouldn't happen. Overall, it was great, as we got three points, so we need to move on and focus on the next one," van Dijk said.
Despite being down to ten men, Newcastle looked like a difficult side to break down and were threatening through set pieces. Every time they had a throw-in, corner kick, or a free kick, they bombarded the ball straight into the opposition box and even scored two goals.
When asked if it seemed that the Magpies were playing with eleven players on the pitch in the second half, van Dijk replied, "With free kicks and corner kicks, the pressure gets on you and they have the quality. I think if you look at all the traditional top six, no one actually managed to beat them here last year. So, it's always a difficult place to come. And today was the same. I enjoy this type of atmosphere and was really looking forward to it. But, we could have made it a little bit easier if we didn't concede those set pieces, because then you give them the boost and they are driven with the fans behind them."
Virgil van Dijk was on the receiving end of a nasty sliding tackle from behind from Anthony Gordon. With red marks all over his calf muscle, it was deemed as serious foul play, and after a VAR intervention, the referee changed the card from yellow to red.
Van Dijk had a small interaction with Gordon before the latter was forced to march off the field. "I said to him, 'If this is not a sending off, then I don't understand football.' So, I think it was already strange that the referee had to go to the monitor, in my opinion. But unfortunately, these things happen in football. Whether he meant it or not, it happened. We move on. That's it," van Dijk elaborated.
Rio Ngomuha stole the headlines with his last-minute goal as the 16-year-old became the fourth-youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, behind James Vaughan, James Milner, and Wayne Rooney.
Van Dijk praised the whole attack from the back, as it involved ten of Liverpool’s eleven players touching the ball to penetrate through the Newcastle defense. Mohamed Salah hit a low cross from the right flank before Dominik Szoboszlai dummied the ball so that Rio could smash it home from a one-on-one situation.
"It's a dream debut for him. The whole attack was quite good. Harvey [Elliott] started it from the right-hand side and Dominik made the dummy. So, it was a perfect attack. We stayed with it towards the end as well and tried to find the right solution in order to score a goal and we did it. So, I'm very, very pleased for Rio. I've mentioned it before to him already: it's all about the start now. He has to keep working hard and stay humble, but he definitely has to enjoy these nights, as you can't take them for granted if you're in his position," van Dijk signed off.
Liverpool’s next Premier League assignment is against last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, at the Anfield Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners are coming on the back of a 5-0 win over Leeds United at home.
