Núñez at the double as 10 man Reds stun Newcastle
Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 2, 27th August 2023.
Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 2, 27th August 2023.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 (Gordon 25)
LIVERPOOL 2 (Núñez 81 and 90+3)
Well it sure has been a 36 hours of contrasting fortunes for your favourite football correspondent. With plans in place on Saturday night for some Sunday morning baseball beside the River Severn with my “Brother Andy” and my beautiful son, a stroll beside the river into Ironbridge, some sweets from toytown’s “Old Fashioned Sweet Shop” and a bag of the finest fish and chips known to man, everything, as per the glorious song from Radiohead of two decades ago, was in its right place. Then my laptop and gateway into my precious “happy place” decided it no longer wished to play ball, football or otherwise, and I descended once more into the deep abyss that comes with not being able to be me, and write to my heart’s content.
From the misery of a Saturday night into a frustrating Sunday morning came the addition of a rained off game of “America’s Pastime” beside the River Severn, but no matter, I was now in the fine company of two of my favourite people, fish and chips were eagerly enjoyed in the shadow of the oldest iron bridge in the world and with the kindly favour of a loaned laptop now tucked firmly up my footballing sleeve, we returned to my brother in arm’s house for an afternoon of gaming, giggles and fun before at precisely 4.25pm and 5 minutes before kick-off I, in my customary fashion, asked my son for a score prediction for the coming game at St James’ Park, and he naturally, naturally, exclaimed
“Newcastle 1 Liverpool 2”
Suffice to say my wholly disinterested in football son only says the Reds are going to win to placate me. Naturally!
But boy was he right!
Here are the goals from a quite astonishing comeback win for the ages:
GOAL! Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 0 (Gordon 25)
Following a shaky start from the Reds that saw Trent Alexander-Arnold fouled, then immediately yellow carded and almost seeing red before his skipper Virgil van Dijk did, unjustly and faintly ridiculously sent off for a tackle that sees this silly game of kicking a bag of wind around descend into the realms of utter, game destroying madness, Alexander-Arnold was squarely at fault for the game’s first goal, and a deserved lead for the home team “Magpies”. Mo Salah’s simple back pass saw the young Liverpudlian and newly installed vice-captain mis-control a free ball immediately pounced upon by ex Everton Blue Anthony Gordon, and he gleefully ran clear before tucking the ball between the legs of the advancing Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The skipper and vice-skipper both had 25 minutes they’ll wish to forget in a hurry, but the young Liverpudlian would have both the last laugh and the last sporting roar an hour or so of football later.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 1 (Núñez 81)
With Andy and I calling for the chaos magic that is Darwin Núñez with a quarter of the game to go, the young Uruguayan joined the fray alongside Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott, and all three were instrumental in dragging the Reds further forward (despite being down to 10 men) and pressing higher up field and harrying Newcastle into relinquishing control of the ball. The game’s equalising goal on 81 minutes will be remembered for the run and thunderous shot from Núñez that arrowed past Nick Pope in the Newcastle goal, but it was a team goal of the highest quality right through the heart of a ragged home team’s defence. Started by an incisive pass forward from Alexander-Arnold and eased into the path of Jota by a first time pass from Salah, Núñez pounced on a defensive lapse with a rasping cross shot that defeated Pope in the home team goal and rattled into his net off the inside of his far post.
The 10 men Reds had found an equaliser their pressing play of the past 10 minutes had deserved.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1 Liverpool 1 (Núñez 90+3)
Unable to break through the Reds midfield, a loose ball was intercepted by Harvey Elliott into the path of Mo Salah and his perfectly weighted through ball saw Núñez running into an almost identical position for his first goal and with Pope trying to narrow the near post angle, the Uruguayan simply rasped a brilliant cross shot passed him in a flash, and the Reds, down to 10 men for over an hour of a contest they should have been out of but had doggedly stuck in, had sealed a quite incredible against the odds comeback win for the ages.
Cue Peter Dury on Sky Sports: “The Liverbird soars!”
Clearly I’m in a minority of one as I can’t for the life of me see how Virgil van Dijk’s tackle was a sending off, but I’m sure I’ll chime with the majority view that Núñez’s goals were brilliantly and expertly taken, Trent Alexander-Arnold grew into the game to roar his approval at the visiting Reds high in the Gods of the “Away” End at St James’ Park before and after the final whistle and Alisson Becker, the brilliant Brazilian with the most beautiful of beards, demonstrated once again why he continues to be the greatest goalkeeper in the world. His first half save to deny Miguel Almirón by tipping his fiercely struck left footed volley onto the crossbar was otherworldly, but the Brazilian shot stopper also made 6/7 crucial saves to keep the score line to just 1–0 before his South American mate stole both the game and the headlines for a triumphant Reds. Almirón was quiet today but still crashed a shot against Alisson’s far post when he did finally beat the Brazilian in the Reds goal and Harvey Barnes should have unselfishly squared a pass into the path of Callum Wilson for a game clinching second goal, but he didn’t. Newcastle, cruising at 1–0, didn’t lay siege to the Reds goal but rather retreated, happy with a one goal victory and slowly but surely, Jürgen Klopp’s substitutions and higher pressing tactics bore fruit, and for the second Premier League game in a row, they won with just 10 men after a cruel and unjust sending off.
7 points from a possible 9 and 2 tricky away games done and dusted, reinforcements are still required in this final week of yet another ridiculous “transfer window” as Klopp’s reinvention and evolution of his next great team takes shape. It’s a season of required patience from the fans, and how glorious they sounded at yesterday’s final whistle!
A final word from The Boss
“I think in my 1,000 games as a coach or a manager I never had a game like this, that’s the truth. Not that we never turned games around, we did that, but 10 men in an atmosphere like this against an opponent like this — it’s not that I can’t remember, I’m pretty sure it never happened because these moments are rare and super-special. But I thought the boys deserved it today because with 10 men we played better and gave Newcastle a proper game. Before that it was a bit wild with, obviously, advantages for Newcastle with the 1–0. We didn’t play calm enough, we felt under pressure when we wouldn’t have to”.
“How I said, at half-time… the way we played after the red card gave us the feeling we can do something here. We don’t concede, stay calm, defend with passion, play with an idea, and we have a chance to get a point here. I have a point, obviously, and in the end more with what the boys did”.
Thanks for reading. Please see the links below for my observations on the Red’s first two games from this early stage of this season’s Premier League:
Reds and Blues flatter to deceive at The Bridge
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1, 13th August 2023.medium.com
Szoboszlai and Díaz sparkle for 10 man Reds
Liverpool 3 Bournemouth 1, 19th August 2023.medium.com