Newcastle were as good as Liverpool were bad, but Anthony Gordon and Rio Ngumoha combined to deny us all some Alexander Isak justice\u2026<\/p>\n
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1) 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha scoring the winner in the 100th minute is just about the only way we can think of that we would have felt any joy in Liverpool winning this game of football.<\/p>\n
Ten-man Newcastle, who played about as well as it\u2019s possible to in defeat, came so close to the most delicious of draws<\/a><\/strong> thanks to their only available striker, after their out-of-position stand-in was sent off in a febrile atmosphere brought about by Alexander Isak and his push to join the club they were playing against.<\/p>\n Liverpool were as bad as Newcastle were good, but start the defence of their title with two shaky wins from two thanks to an absurdly talented child, who we couldn\u2019t help but be delighted for.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2) The build-up to this game could not have gone better for Sky Sports.\u00a0In a slot usually reserved for a clash between lesser teams, at best one of the big boys, this was already a huge instalment of Monday Night Football.<\/p>\n Two Champions League sides clashing in the game of the weekend on a Monday is a big boon, and with a sun-soaked bank holiday offering ample opportunity to wet fan whistles before they drifted from beer gardens to the stadium, if you couldn\u2019t be at St James\u2019 Park it was essential viewing at home, perhaps even without the most intriguing subtext to a game we can remember to make it entirely unmissable.<\/p>\n Isak\u2019s push to leave for Liverpool created the sort of hostility between the fans and players normally reserved for historic rivals. And we wonder if a straw poll of Newcastle fans outside would have seen a majority valuing victory over Liverpool \u2013 the Red Cartel behemoth who\u2019s turned the head of their best player to such a degree that he\u2019s refusing to play for them \u2013 instead of Sunderland on their return to the Premier League.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 3) We have very little sympathy for Isak. These unwritten \u2018broken promises\u2019 he referred to in his Instagram post explaining his dereliction of duty in no way excuses the way in which he\u2019s gone about things. Badly advised? Maybe. Is there an unreasonable imbalance of power between football players and football clubs with regard to contracts and the ability to break them? Yes. But does he have no sense of personal shame?<\/p>\n If we think about what Newcastle, Eddie Howe and his teammates have done to aid him in becoming this \u00a3150m striker, and the adoration of the fans which peaked in the form of his name adorning the stand in 200 ft high letters in November last year, it\u2019s hard to comprehend how much of a d*ck you\u2019ve got to be to turn your back on them entirely rather than than, say, handing in a transfer request while continuing to represent the club that pays your wages. Not doing that because of the financial implications does nothing to combat the suggestion that Isak\u2019s little more than a spoilt brat.<\/p>\n Although Thierry Henry said Isak should be training, he attempted to play down the striker\u2019s antics, referring to the inherently unfair ease with which football clubs can send players packing while Isak and others are disparaged for downing tools to force a move.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are upset because Isak is good,\u201d Henry said. \u201cWhen a player is playing bad and the club wants them out, I don\u2019t see anyone crying for him.. When players don\u2019t go to training you can\u2019t put yourself in their shoes, we don\u2019t know the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s been suggested Isak and his representatives could threaten to invoke Article 17<\/a> <\/strong>\u2013 which essentially states that any player who signed a contract before the age of 28 can buy himself out of the contract three years after the deal was signed \u2013 but Isak would be required to prove a clear breach of contract, usually the refusal to pay wages, and would also likely be told that this FIFA rule and it\u2019s recent amendments aren\u2019t for him.<\/p>\n Yes, he\u2019s trapped to an extent. But we can\u2019t imagine a court of arbitration seeing a footballer previously adored by his club and its supporters, playing in the Champions League on \u00a3120,000 per week as some sort of hostage.<\/p>\n Again, in an era of bomb squads and players being banned from training, Isak will argue it\u2019s grossly unfair, and we don\u2019t necessarily disagree, but it\u2019s his reality.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Carragher believes Newcastle \u2018should sell\u2019 Isak after \u2018nightmare\u2019 he endured at Liverpool<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 4) \u201cWe have got to concentrate on what we need to do and not get too emotional, but certainly use the energy from the crowd,\u201d Eddie How said ahead of kick-off. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be vital for us.\u201d<\/p>\n If anything, Howe will have been looking to contain his players ahead of kick-off (and perhaps should have tried harder) but\u00a0opposition manager Arne Slot not knowing where the game was set to take place may have been a useful pre-match motivational tidbit to share with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSt James\u2019 Park, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Slot asked reporters at his press conference. Our guess is he was well aware of exactly where he was as he and the Liverpool players got off the coach to boos and whistles from the gathered Newcastle fans.<\/p>\n It was telling after just two minutes that Virgil van Dijk stepped in after Joelinton\u2019s high boot on Cody Gakpo, seemingly to calm the referee down as much as anyone, perhaps aware that an early yellow card for a Newcastle player wouldn\u2019t necessarily work in Liverpool\u2019s favour here, with levels of acclaim afforded to Newcastle players on the basis of just how hard they crunched their opponents in tackles by the Toon faithful.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ngumoha and Gordon spoil it for Newcastle after Osula offered perfect Isak, Liverpool middle finger<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 5) It didn\u2019t take long though for Van Dijk to bemoan the decisions of Simon Hooper, and we don\u2019t particularly blame the captain for a \u201cboth sides?\u201d question after two Newcastle players were fortunate to escape cautions before Cody Gakpo was shown a yellow for Liverpool\u2019s first tackle of any note while several others saw fouls given against them as signposted of the baying crowd.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not claiming bias or foul play, but also wouldn\u2019t deny a referee accused of \u201clacking authority\u201d in Manchester United\u2019s defeat to Arsenal last weekend<\/a><\/strong> was being in part influenced by the crowd.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t know whether that played a role in his need to view the pitch-side monitor to deem Anthony Gordon\u2019s challenge on Van Dijk worthy of a red card, but we can imagine the noise created by Newcastle fans had it been Ekitike on Fabian Schar would have made it much harder to ignore.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 6) As Jamie Carragher said in the Sky Sports studio, Gordon had been \u201cthe best player on the pitch by a distance in the first half\u201d before recklessly raking his studs down the back of Virgil van Dijk\u2019s leg to give them a mountain to climb.<\/p>\n Gordon had headed one decent chance over the bar, gifting Chris Sutton the perfect but slightly unfair \u201cif that\u2019s Alexander Isak\u201d opportunity, and two further chances within the space of a couple of minutes, bullying Ibrahima Konate from a long ball in one instance, and very nearly directing an Anthony Elanga cross past Alisson having burst in ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai at the back post in another.<\/p>\n There will have been plenty of bets placed on a red card in this game and more piled specifically on Gordon before his awful challenge on Van Dijk, such was an intensity tantamount to mania on his part in response to his name being chanted by the fans more than anyone else as they bayed for Liverpool blood.<\/p>\n Metaphorically though, Anthony.<\/p>\n The dumbfounded look on his face as Van Dijk showed him the stud marks on his legs adds credence to the suggestion that Gordon isn\u2019t one of football\u2019s great thinkers, and effectively cost his side anything from this game, as no-one watching \u2013 given how bad Liverpool were and how good Newcastle were \u2013 could imagine 11vs11 ending in a victory for Arne Slot\u2019s side.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 7) We never fancied Liverpool\u2019s chances of matching Newcastle\u2019s \u201cintensity\u201d \u2013 something Arne Slot claimed they failed to do at St James\u2019 Park last season and in the Carabao Cup final \u2013 and they were even further short of them here than in those two previous clashes.<\/p>\n It was the breathless game Newcastle wanted. Liverpool didn\u2019t seem to have safe possession at any point in the first half and even in the second when they had the man advantage, Newcastle were all over them. None more so than Bruno Guimaraes.<\/p>\n As captain of the club, this looked as though it meant more to him than any of them. He could be seen winning the ball in his own box seconds before playing a pass into Liverpool\u2019s. His belief never wavered and we genuinely don\u2019t think Newcastle get back into this game without his leadership, let alone his work-rate, quality on the ball and desire to get his head on Tino Livramento\u2019s cross to score.<\/p>\n It could only have been him, fortunate though he was to be vying in that aerial challenge with Milos Kerkez, who looks worryingly like a full-back who will do anything to avoid getting his head on the ball, including looking in entirely the wrong direction and creating a useful platform for opposition players to climb on top of him, as was the case here.<\/p>\n And Bruno\u2019s quality looks set to be tested further in the coming weeks after two thirds of the dynamic midfield three walked off injured here, with Fabian Schar also set to join Joelinton and Sandro Tonali on the treatment table in what Howe described as a \u201cbruising day\u201d, physically and no doubt mentally.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 8) Most of what you needed to know about the opening to this game is illustrated by Ryan Gravenberch scoring his goal with his 17th touch of the ball in the 35th minute. A Liverpool with any semblance of control would ordinarily see Gravenberch with more touches than most \u2013 he averaged over 70 per game last season.<\/p>\n Howe\u2019s disappointment will be in Liverpool scoring not just from their first real chance, but from the first moment that had any sort of foothold in the game. There was fortune involved \u2013 Gakpo\u2019s shot was blocked to give Gravenberch the chance. It was a fine finish from Gravenberch though, pulled back across his body and through Bruno Guimar\u00e3es legs into the corner from the edge of the box.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t quite no how Chris Sutton didn\u2019t see the deflection after five replays, including one from the new nauseating Ref Cam, but it didn\u2019t look as though Nick Pope would have got anywhere near it without that slight nick anyway.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 9) Ahead of kick-off, Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher discussed the 84 per cent Opta match between Hugo Ekitike and Isak \u2013 no striker has a greater similarity to Liverpool\u2019s new signing than the other one they\u2019re targeting, which despite their insistence to the contrary at the time and since, suggests Newcastle were after a replacement for Isak when they made their bid for the Frenchman.<\/p>\n Slot used the striker he does have to pivot away from the inevitable questions about the striker he doesn\u2019t this week.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the way Hugo Ekitike started his career at Liverpool, we should talk about him and say how well he did,\u201d Slot said.\u00a0\u201cIt would be unfair to him to talk about other targets if they are actually there. And if they are there, we don\u2019t speak about them in public. But I think the main thing should be that we talk about how well Hugo has done until now.\u201d<\/p>\n In the absence of Isak, Newcastle fans aimed the majority of their striker hatred at Ekitike, whose only sin was signing for a superior football club, and who predictably rubbed salt in the Toon striker wounds by doubling Liverpool\u2019s lead immediately after half-time with a quite brilliant strike in off the post.<\/p>\n We love his finishing style \u2013 side-footed at pace \u2013 which we saw against Bournemouth, with his goal against Crystal Palace also placed rather than laced. Ekitike was definitely at risk of being a flop<\/a><\/strong> given his price tag and hardly a rich goalscoring past, but three goals in three games is quite the start for a striker under pressure not just to prove himself worthy of his transfer fee but also to show that his new club might not need to immediately sign a \u00a3150m striker to take his spot in the first XI.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 10) Florian Wirtz still has plenty to prove however.<\/p>\n \u201cTonight he will know about the pace of the Premier League,\u201d Henry warned him ahead of a battle against arguably the best midfield trio in the division. Between a studs up challenge from Kieran Trippier in the 5th minute and roughly two occasions in which he found himself in a position to play a telling pass (and didn\u2019t), the \u00a3100m playmaker can\u2019t have enjoyed himself much.<\/p>\n We particularly enjoyed the bit where he attempted to play a pass with his right foot and kicked it onto his left to create a chance for Newcastle, and while we have little doubt Wirtz will tear lesser teams to shreds, this is the sort of game in which a player with his reputation, who may yet become the most expensive British signing in history, has to be making the difference. Time will tell.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 11) The Isak transfer only happens if Liverpool meet an asking price that we, and quite possibly they, aren\u2019t privy to and if Newcastle sign two new strikers, which looks increasingly unlikely after their search for new No.9s reached levels beyond desperate roughly four hours before kick-off.<\/p>\n After Liverpool beat them to Hugo Ekitike and Manchester United beat them to Benjamin Sesko, while Yoane Wissa pulls an Isak to force a move from Brentford which doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going to happen, Newcastle genuinely made a \u00a350m bid for Jorgen Strand Larsen<\/a><\/strong>. No add-ons, \u00a350m in one beautifully wrapped bundle, which \u2013 unbelievably \u2013 was rejected by Wolves, who \u2013 even more unbelievably \u2013 aren\u2019t willing to listen to improved offers.<\/p>\n They only completed his permanent signing in July for \u00a323m, and while he got a perfectly reasonable return of 14 Premier League goals on loan at Molineux last season, imagine for a moment Newcastle bidding \u00a350m for him even a month ago and try to contain your scoffs. The world, specifically Newcastle\u2019s part in it, has gone completely mad.<\/p>\n Fair f***s to them for insisting the 25-year-old is being targeted as a replacement for Callum Wilson though, and not Isak, because he\u2019s still \u2018not for sale\u2019, and fair f***s to William Osula for reminding Howe and everyone else that Newcastle do actually still have a striker who can score goals when given the opportunity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 12) Osula\u2019s also been linked with an exit this summer \u2013 he\u2019s \u2018on Bayer Leverkusen\u2019s radar\u2019<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 but surely too much has to happen for that move to be sanctioned, at least the same \u2018two strikers in\u2019 caveat which is currently preventing Isak\u2019s move.<\/p>\n And with Gordon now out for Leeds next weekend, Osula would be gutted not to start that game having scored the most glorious of equalisers, which came so close to being the perfect middle finger to Isak and Liverpool.<\/p>\n There was a lot to like about it: he gambled on the ball getting over the Liverpool defence, showed serious speed to get on the end of it and finishing smarts along with composure to tap the ball under the on-rushing Alisson.<\/p>\n What a moment and how cruel for Liverpool and their child off the bench to deny us the deliciousness of Newcastle\u2019s only available striker equalising against the side that\u2019s made him thus.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 13) Ibrahima Konate is a problem. In two Premier League games this season he\u2019s been found wanting, with Antoine Semenyo turning him inside out and then in again in the win over Bournemouth, and Dan Burn bullying him in the air here, for the William Osula goal, but in at least two other instances besides. It looks as though opposition teams have finally realised that by targeting the defender other than Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool are more than fallible.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t work out why Liverpool\u2019s line was so high for Osula\u2019s goal, and have some sympathy for Konate \u2013 it\u2019s not easy to get your head on the ball when backpedaling at such speed for such a distance. How are you supposed to jump in that situation? But he doesn\u2019t have much of an excuse for failing to get his head on it given it came off his back before bouncing through to Osula. He looks clumsy in everything he does right now.<\/p>\n He\u2019s so far been snubbing offers of a new contract which Liverpool may well take off the table at this rate. It may well have been a toss-up between him and Marc Guehi at the start of the season, but there\u2019s now no doubt the Crystal Palace captain comes straight into this team.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n