Chaotic, spectacular - Newcastle and Liverpool serve up another CLASSIC

Football writer Alex Keble reflects on Newcastle United 2-3 Liverpool, an incredible match that more than lived up to the thrilling history of this Premier League fixture.

In the dying seconds, the most extraordinary, breathless, bonkers Premier League game since Stan Collymore's winner in Liverpool’s 4-3 victory against Newcastle United in 1995/96 finally looked like it had slowed down to something resembling a normal football match.

And then, a final twist: Rio Ngumoha closing in – and Liverpool had won it at the death.

Watch Ngumoha's winner v Newcastle

This was always going to be a good one, a feisty one. But we had no idea.

The banner unveiled by the Newcastle fans instructing their players to “get into them” foretold a blistering battle at St James' Park clearly fired up by the Alexander Isak saga thundering in the background.

And Newcastle really did get into them, a series of full-blooded challenges setting the tempo before Anthony Gordon ultimately went too far, receiving a red card for his poor lunge on Virgil van Dijk.

When Hugo Ekitike, a long-time target of Newcastle’s, put Liverpool 2-0 up at the beginning of the second half, well, surely that was that; a cruel blow to end a gutsy performance.

Instead Newcastle continued to dominate the game, continued to bring the fire and expose an oddly brittle Liverpool side who struggled to handle the heat.

Or at least it looked that way, right up until that final act.

Fittingly, given that the goal is instantly crowned as an iconic Premier League moment, Ngumoha is only the second 16-year-old to score a winner in the competition, after Wayne Rooney’s legendary strike for Everton against Arsenal in October 2002.

At 16 years and 361 days, Ngumoha is just one day older than Rooney was on the afternoon when he made history.

On a night when Isak was supposed to be the story, before Gordon’s reckless challenge turned the spotlight on to another No 9, only for a third striker, William Osula, to score the equaliser, somehow Ngumoha stole the headlines.

It was chaotic, it was spectacular. Here’s the tale of Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over Newcastle at St James' Park.

Liverpool battle through tough first half to take heat out of St James' Park

When the Newcastle fans demanded the players "get into them", they might not have expected it to be taken quite so literally.

This match produced a total of 32 fouls, the most in a Premier League game so far in 2025/26. Liverpool committed nine of those in the first 25 minutes, their highest tally of fouls in that time period in the competition since records have been kept by Opta.

The visitors struggled as Newcastle repeatedly won possession and burst down the wings, where Liverpool’s full-backs Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez both had a torrid evening.

However, it’s noteworthy Ryan Gravenberch’s excellent goal against the run of play was a sucker punch, slowing Newcastle down.

Liverpool’s successful weathering of the storm tempered Newcastle, which in turn inspired Gordon to try to increase the tempo on his own – only to misjudge the tone, "getting into" Van Dijk a little too aggressively.

Gallery: How Gordon's red-card incident unfolded

Howe’s men roar back in 4-3-2 shape that hit Liverpool where it hurt

Ekitike’s goal just after the break should have allowed Liverpool to finally settle down and play their football, but Eddie Howe had other ideas.

In a solid 4-3-2 formation that blocked Liverpool’s route through the middle, Newcastle simply hung in there, continued to fight for every ball, and played an aggressive set-piece game.

"I’m not too sure if I saw a football match today," Arne Slot told Sky Sports after the match.

"It didn’t have a lot to do with tactics. When the goalkeeper takes every free-kick it’s not so helpful having the extra man."

Slot was highlighting how long Newcastle took over set-pieces and how often they launched both free-kicks and throw-ins into the box.

But to say it wasn’t tactical is unfair: Newcastle dug in and fought back brilliantly, Bruno Guimaraes – exceptional throughout – scoring from a long throw before Osula snatched an equaliser from a long free-kick into the box.

It was the first time Liverpool had conceded two goals while their opponents were down to 10 men in the Premier League since December 2001, in a match against Arsenal.

Despite what happened after that, Howe and Newcastle deserve tremendous praise for dragging themselves into the match – and making it look like Liverpool were the team with 10 men.

Ngumoha puts final touch to an all-time classic

"I think this is what makes the Premier League special," Slot said. "Maybe it wasn’t the best game in terms of tactics, in terms of playing football, but I think every fan around the world enjoyed watching this game of football."

From substitutes appearing to pour on to the pitch to melees in the penalty box to scuffles between the teams, Slot has a point: it was pure chaos out there, a game befitting the legacy of the two 4-3 matches between the two clubs in the 1990s.

Ultimately, Liverpool can celebrate showing the resilience of champions, overcoming a raucous crowd by any means necessary.

But while Slot’s comments on the quality of football ring true, there was one moment – the moment, the one history will always remember - that defied the blood-and-thunder carnage of this all-time classic.

Ngumoha’s strike could be the goal of the season: a wonderful flowing Liverpool move, ending with a fantastic dummy from Szoboszlai and then an incredible show of composure from a 16-year-old.

He had lots of time to think about it, but Ngumoha never doubted himself, never hesitated. It was a finish Isak would have been proud of.