Fábio Carvalho Strikes At Death To Give Liverpool Dramatic Win Over Newcastle

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Fábio Carvalho’s 97th-minute winner drove Newcastle to despair at Anfield and sparked a mass confrontation between the dug-outs as Liverpool sealed an unlikely comeback against Eddie Howe’s side.

Jürgen Klopp had claimed Newcastle do not require another transfer window to become a top-six side given what they have bought so far under Saudi ownership, but there was no love lost between him and the away bench.

As Carvalho, having hooked home at the back post after Newcastle had failed to clear one last Liverpool corner, celebrated his precious strike, the Liverpool goalkeeping coach, John Achterberg, taunted the Newcastle dugout. They erupted in kind, unsurprisingly.

Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s new record purchase, had marked his debut with a superb strike before Liverpool finally stirred through Roberto Firmino and their young substitute.

With Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Bruno Guimarães all injured, and the Home Office clearing his work permit hours before kick‑off, Alexander Isak went straight into Newcastle’s starting lineup following his club-record £63m transfer from Real Sociedad. Alan Shearer was in the directors’ box to witness the centre‑forward’s debut and must have appreciated the emphatic, clinical way that the Sweden international launched his Newcastle career.

Isak’s first sight of goal came when he received Joe Willock’s pass on a counter-attack, cut inside Joe Gomez and sliced wide from 20 yards out. The striker, tireless in his running, needed to be patient for his next opportunity in an increasingly fractious contest. He made the first repayment on the record fee when it came.

Liverpool were careless in the first half, resorting to hit-and-hope punts too often and regularly opened up by Newcastle’s intelligent play. The breakthrough was a prime example. Trent Alexander-Arnold conceded possession with a miss-hit, cross‑field pass straight to Willock.

Miguel Almirón and Kieran Trippier took over down the right and when the full-back crossed low along the face of the penalty area, Jordan Henderson’s attempted intercept found only Sean Longstaff. The midfielder pierced Liverpool’s defence with an inch-perfect ball into Isak, who swept a blistering shot over the advancing Alisson and into the roof of the net. The new boy understandably milked the acclaim of Newcastle’s boisterous away support.

Jürgen Klopp cut an increasingly irate, wild figure on the sideline. The referee Andre Marriner’s perceived leniency, the tendency of Newcastle’s players to stay down for treatment and the Liverpool performance could all have been responsible. He was in the face of fourth official David Coote following one decision against his team and extremely fortunate not to receive a yellow card.

Liverpool did show flashes of the form that pulverised Bournemouth at home on Saturday. Luis Díaz left Jamaal Lascelles on his backside with a weaving run into the area and it needed a vital touch from Dan Burn to prevent his pull-back reaching Mohamed Salah lurking in front of goal.

Díaz had the home side’s best chance before the break when latching on to a superb pass played behind the Newcastle defence by Roberto Firmino. The Colombian’s first touch took him away from goalkeeper Nick Pope but, struggling to retain balance, his shot on the turn sailed high into the Kop with two Newcastle defenders on the line.

Isak thought he had doubled Newcastle’s lead early in the second half. His “second” goal in black and white would have been superior to the first had it stood. Released down the left by Ryan Fraser as the visitors caught Liverpool on the break, the striker sauntered into the area where he cut inside Andy Robertson’s lunge, sold Gomez another dummy and beat Alisson with a thunderous shot once again. The assistant referee’s offside call was confirmed by VAR, however, and Newcastle celebrations were silenced.

Anfield was growing increasingly restless as Howe’s resolute team contained Liverpool with some comfort. The hosts did not have a shot on target until Harvey Elliott tested Pope on the hour. That came in the midst of a more urgent, incisive spell from Klopp’s side, however, and moments later they levelled through a fine team goal.

Newcastle’s resistance was broken with 10 touches and in 12 seconds, the time it took from Alisson’s clearance at one end of the pitch to Firmino’s cool finish at the other. Henderson split the visitors’ midfield with a threaded pass to Elliott, who sent Salah scampering into space against Matt Targett on the right. The Liverpool forward rolled a perfect assist into the box for Firmino and the Brazil international swept his shot low into Pope’s far right-hand corner.

Liverpool dominated the closing stages as they pressed for victory but Pope twice stood tall to deny Díaz.

GUARDIAN UK

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