Liverpool rescued a point in their opening game of the new Premier League season after netting a 99th-minute equaliser against Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired home from the penalty spot with just seconds remaining after Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock had scored either side of a Cody Gakpo strike.
Both sides were ushering in new eras, with the hosts welcoming Matthias Jaissle in the dugout and Andoni Iraola taking charge of the Reds in the top flight for the first time.
And it proved to be a thrilling game in the North East – an open contest between two teams with managers eager to quickly endear themselves to their respective fanbases.
Magpies fly out the blocks
With the atmosphere already electric on a day when both sets of supporters paid tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, the noise inside St James’ Park was ramped up in no small way with just five minutes gone when Newcastle broke the deadlock.
Just seconds after Liverpool saw a promising move filter out in the Magpies’ box, the hosts burst upfield, William Osula carrying the ball before playing in Elanga, who finished confidently past Alisson.
Lukas Hornicek in the Newcastle goal then did well to keep out Florian Wirtz’s bobbling effort as the Reds looked to get back into the contest.
A thrilling second half
Having gone into the break behind, Iraola’s side began the second period positively, with Hornicek poking away a header from former Newcastle man Alexander Isak from a Liverpool corner.
Gakpo then saw a fierce effort fly narrowly over the bar. It proved to be something of a sighter. Moments later, the Dutch international found space on the edge of the Newcastle area before unleashing a low drive that beat Hornicek and nestled into the corner of the net.
Momentum was firmly in the visitors’ favour. However, just minutes after conceding, another Newcastle counter saw Yoane Wissa somehow wriggle through several Reds players in the middle of the pitch before playing in Willock.
The substitute, still with plenty to do, engineered a yard of space before bending a fine effort past Alisson to restore the hosts’ advantage.
Wissa perhaps should then have capped off his impressive performance by extending the lead but he failed to connect with Lewis Hall’s low cross.
At the other end, Isak blasted a wild strike high over the goal – much to the delight of the Newcastle faithful.
With five minutes remaining, Wissa had another good chance to make the points safe, but again the striker could not capitalise and Alisson was quick to smother the danger.
But just when it looked like Newcastle were set to record a famous victory, Liverpool substitute Victor Munoz went down under what looked like a tired lunge from Hall deep into stoppage time.
The referee pointed to the spot and Szoboszlai duly converted the resulting penalty to salvage a point for the visitors and leave the hosts deflated.
