Liverpool rescued some extent of their opening recreation of the brand new Premier League season after netting a 99th-minute equaliser towards Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired house from the penalty spot with simply seconds remaining after Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock had scored both aspect of a Cody Gakpo strike.
Each side had been ushering in new eras, with the hosts welcoming Matthias Jaissle within the dugout and Andoni Iraola taking cost of the Reds within the prime flight for the primary time.
And it proved to be an exhilarating recreation within the North East – an open contest between two groups with managers desperate to shortly endear themselves to their respective fanbases.
Magpies fly out the blocks
With the ambiance already electrical on a day when each units of supporters paid tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, the noise inside St James’ Park was ramped up in no small method with simply 5 minutes gone when Newcastle broke the impasse.
Simply seconds after Liverpool noticed a promising transfer filter out within the Magpies’ field, the hosts burst upfield, William Osula carrying the ball earlier than enjoying in Elanga, who finished confidently past Alisson.
Lukas Hornicek within the Newcastle purpose then did nicely to maintain out Florian Wirtz’s bobbling effort because the Reds appeared to get again into the competition.
An exhilarating second half
Having gone into the break behind, Iraola’s aspect started the second interval positively, with Hornicek poking away a header from former Newcastle man Alexander Isak from a Liverpool nook.
Gakpo then noticed a fierce effort fly narrowly over the bar. It proved to be one thing of a sighter. Moments later, the Dutch worldwide discovered house on the sting of the Newcastle space earlier than unleashing a low drive that beat Hornicek and nestled into the nook of the web.
Momentum was firmly within the guests’ favour. Nevertheless, simply minutes after conceding, one other Newcastle counter noticed Yoane Wissa someway wriggle via a number of Reds gamers in the course of the pitch earlier than enjoying in Willock.
The substitute, nonetheless with loads to do, engineered a yard of house earlier than bending a wonderful effort previous Alisson to revive the hosts’ benefit.
Wissa maybe ought to then have capped off his spectacular efficiency by extending the lead however he failed to attach with Lewis Corridor’s low cross.
On the different finish, Isak blasted a wild strike excessive over the purpose – a lot to the delight of the Newcastle trustworthy.
With 5 minutes remaining, Wissa had one other good probability to make the factors secure, however once more the striker couldn’t capitalise and Alisson was fast to smother the hazard.
However simply when it appeared like Newcastle had been set to file a well-known victory, Liverpool substitute Victor Munoz went down below what appeared like a drained lunge from Corridor deep into stoppage time.
The referee pointed to the spot and Szoboszlai duly transformed the ensuing penalty to salvage some extent for the guests and depart the hosts deflated.
