Dominik Szoboszlai's 99th-minute penalty earned Liverpool a dramatic 2-2 draw at Newcastle United, cancelling out Joe Willock's superb finish in a chaotic, end-to-end Premier League encounter.
Before kick-off, a banner in the Gallowgate End quoted the late Kevin Keegan: "I want people to dream about their football. We should all be dreamers at heart." The match that followed was sheer, unadulterated mutual mayhem, with both Matthias Jaissle, Keegan's latest successor in the Newcastle dugout, and Liverpool's new manager Andoni Iraola pursuing forms of organised chaos.
Osula and Elanga strike early for Newcastle
Newcastle took the lead after just five minutes. Jérémy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk had no answers to William Osula as the young Dane turned and accelerated towards goal following Ryan Gravenberch's surrender of possession. Osula spotted Anthony Elanga, who was leaving Milos Kerkez for dust down the right, slid a pass in the winger's direction, and Elanga's shot flashed beyond Alisson's reach.
Jaissle's tenure as Newcastle's manager was off to a perfect start, and Iraola already looked distinctly stressed. His defence did not convince, with Kerkez finding few answers to Elanga. Liverpool's best moments coincided largely with the sporadic occasions when Florian Wirtz, who would be withdrawn midway through the second half, managed to get on the ball and unnerve the Newcastle side.
Jaissle's re-energised Newcastle impress
It is only three weeks since Jaissle succeeded Eddie Howe, but the former Al-Ahli manager has re-energised a mentally jaded team and sharpened a swarm pressing game that had become half-hearted and untidy. "The manager is top," said Elanga. "Playing for him is fun."
Jaissle has inherited a team shorn of last season's luminaries – Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães – yet trusted 18-year-old Sean Steur, recently arrived from Ajax, alongside Lewis Miley in the key holding roles in his 4-2-3-1 system. Behind them, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman excelled in central defence while Amar Dedic shone at right-back following his £30m move from Benfica.
Isak's return and Gakpo's leveller
Alexander Isak, returning to Newcastle after forcing a record £125m move to Liverpool last summer, was greeted by chants of "rat, rat, rat" as he alighted from the visiting team bus. The Sweden striker seemed unconcerned, grinning broadly in the face of sustained hostility, but miscued his sole chance of an anonymous afternoon.
Instead it was Cody Gakpo who kept Liverpool in it. When Jaissle's midfield inexplicably stood off him, Gakpo's first-time shot from outside the area defied Lukas Hornicek to level the game.
Willock's stunner and Szoboszlai's late heroics
With Osula now limping, Joe Willock came on for Newcastle, with the impressive Yoane Wissa – arguably man of the match – shifting from the No 10 to No 9 role. Willock, reportedly close to joining Besiktas, immediately reminded Tyneside of his enduring worth. When Wissa dodged three supposed markers, his pass to Willock was superbly calibrated, and the latter curled a shot past Alisson and in off a post.
Low on creativity, Liverpool seemed beaten until deep in injury time, when substitute Victor Muñoz was felled after Newcastle's left-back Lewis Hall rather unluckily caught his knee in the penalty area. All that remained was for Szoboszlai to lash his ensuing penalty high into the roof of the net and level a game as swashbuckling as anything even Keegan might have conjured.
