In a fiery encounter at St James’ Park, Liverpool secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Newcastle United, with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scoring a 100th-minute winner.
The match was a contentious affair, marked by a low amount of time the ball was in play and a record number of fouls for the season.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed his frustration with the stop-start nature of the game. “I’m not too sure if I saw a football match,” he told Sky Sports, criticizing Newcastle’s approach of “set-piece after set-piece, long throws” and stating it “didn’t have a lot to do with tactics.”
The game’s intensity was reflected in the statistics: the ball was in play for a mere 40.8% of the match, the lowest figure since February 2010. There were also a staggering 32 fouls, the most in a single Premier League match so far this season.
The feisty atmosphere was amplified by reports of Newcastle forward Alexander Isak’s desire to join Liverpool. Tensions boiled over when Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon was shown a red card for a rash challenge on Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk shortly before halftime.
Gordon later apologized on social media for his dismissal, stating his “intentions were pure” and that he had “mistimed the tackle.”
