Newcastle 2-2 Liverpool (Elanga 5′, Willock 57′ | Gakpo 55′, Szoboszlai pen 90’+9)
ST JAMES’ PARK – To borrow one of the great man’s most famous phrases, Kevin Keegan would have absolutely loved it.
So beautifully immortalised before the game by both sets of fans, this full throttle, red-blooded Premier League thriller felt like the most fitting of tributes to a man hailed as the King on Tyneside.
New-look Newcastle were fantastic but flawed – and ultimately floored by exhaustion and a wily cameo from Victor Munoz, the man they thought they’d signed this summer. He won the penalty that earned Liverpool a point despite an unconvincing display from Andoni Iraola’s Reds.
Their travails were summed up by Alexander Isak’s return to Tyneside, which was as wretched as the behaviour that earned him his move to Anfield. What on earth has happened to him?
The club Isak left behind has changed beyond recognition and on this showing, there is reason to believe in what Matthias Jaissle is trying to construct despite the late heartbreak.
When the disappointment of Dominic Szoboszlai‘s late penalty leveller subsides, Newcastle will reflect on a mostly positive debut for “Jaissleball” and a shot in the arm for a club that has undergone a drastic change in strategy this summer.
Jaissle picked three debutants in a bold starting line-up that handed Sean Steur – just 18 – a central role in an overhauled Newcastle midfield. The contrast with his predecessor, who tended to lean into experience in the big games, was stark.
A fast start felt essential for the raucous home crowd to buy into it; Newcastle got that and then some.
A Liverpool attack on four minutes was cut out by Amar Dedic, who fed Newcastle’s agent of chaos Will Osula. His quick feet took him deep into Liverpool territory and he teed up Anthony Elanga for a wonderful swept finish past Alisson.
On the touchline, Jaissle punched the air with two clenched fists as St James’ Park erupted. His “vertical football” gameplan is heavily reliant on Newcastle rediscovering the rapier counter-attack that deserted them last season and it rattled Iraola’s Reds.
Isak, in particular, was woeful amid the vitriol rained down on him from the stands that once acclaimed him as a hero. His behaviour a year ago – in many ways the first sign that Newcastle’s project was faltering – was never going to be forgiven and there was genuine malice in the jeers that greeted his every touch.
Liverpool’s problems felt deeper than just a misfiring record signing, though. They look uncomfortable in their own skin, granted space and time to construct here by a Newcastle team happy to step off them but unable to do much with it.
Florian Wirtz is a wonderful, elegant footballer but he flits in and out of games. A golden chance mid-way through the first half looked destined for the corner of the goal but was met with a wonderful save from Lukas Hornicek.
And for all their possession it was Lewis Miley, the man earmarked early in the summer to step up and replace Sandro Tonali this season, who was the most impressive of those battling it out in an engaging midfield melee. With him alongside Steur, Newcastle had energy in abundance in an area which was supposed to be a problem for them this season.
Momentum ebbed and flowed in a superb contest and Liverpool must have thought they’d snatched it back when Cody Gakpo smashed a brilliant 25-yard drive past Hornicek. On the balance of play, parity was deserved.
Faced with adversity last season, Newcastle crumbled. But Jaissle made two changes that recalibrated the contest, bringing Jacob Ramsey and Joe Willock on. The impact was immediate as Wissa – so good throughout – embarked on a brilliant run to feed Willock, who drove a long-range effort past Alisson.
The two teams traded blows but Liverpool’s saviour was substitute Munoz, who drove at Newcastle’s tiring limbs with purpose. He drew a foul from Lewis Hall, who was mostly excellent, and the penalty was disaptched with aplomb to draw the curtain on a dramatic day.
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