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Arne Slot was perspiring, pacing his technical area, about to implode with fury. St James’ Park was bouncing, having just exploded with joy. The night billed as a battle over Alexander Isak had been hijacked by a new young king of the Gallowgate. William Osula gambled on a flick-on and it arrived off Ibrahima Konaté’s back into the path of the grateful 22-year-old, whose guided finish past Alisson sparked wild scenes in the stadium. The script had been perfectly written – until it was torn up minutes later by another young attacking star. Rio Ngumoha, days short of his 17th birthday, powered home a 100th-minute winner in the manner of Federico Macheda, to steal the headlines for himself. Alexander who?
It was the second time in as many weeks that Liverpool had been pegged back to 2-2 having flattered to deceive. On neither occasion, against Bournemouth or Newcastle, would their opponents have been fortunate to draw. On Monday night the 10 men in black and white were, by every measure, the superior outfit. Liverpool may have found a way to win once more but this is surely unsustainable. You cannot bank on an 88th-minute volley from Federico Chiesa to bail you out every week (it was his first Premier League goal), nor is Ngumoha – talented as he may be – always going to conjure the proverbial rabbit from the hat in stoppage time. Slot will have woken up realising this, for all his gripes about the Magpies’ ultra-physicality, and has a problem to solve with Arsenal lurking at the weekend.
