Darwin Nunez shines as 10-man Liverpool beat Newcastle

• Darwin Nunez scored a spectacular double as 10-man Liverpool beat Newcastle United team 2-1 at St. James’ Park.
• Virgil van Dijk was handed a straight red card for a last-man tackle on Alexander Isak.

Darwin Nunez, who had been on the bench, scored a spectacular double as 10-man Liverpool overcame a 1-0 deficit to upset a devastated Newcastle United team 2-1 at St. James’ Park.

Virgil van Dijk was handed a straight red card for a last-man tackle on Alexander Isak, and with just 30 minutes played, it seemed like the game was over for Jurgen Klopp’s team. Former Reds youngster Anthony Gordon had come full circle to avenge his old team.

Eddie Howe’s team, however, was unable to take advantage of their additional player, and a valiant Liverpool team, via substitute Nunez, ignited an incredible comeback that was finished in the last minutes of regulation.

The Reds, who benefited from Nick Pope’s early dismissal in last year’s victory at St. James’ Park, were extremely lucky not to go down to 10 men themselves in the opening moments.

Newcastle’s quick start

Newcastle celebrated an early goal after Trent’s mistake. Photo/Goal

The right-back prevented an energetic Gordon from running away on the counterattack as the home fans at St. James’ Park yelled for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s red card after he received a stupid booking for tossing the ball away earlier.

To the dismay of the Magpies, John Brooks chose to talk to Alexander-Arnold instead of issuing a second yellow, obviously not wanting to create a rod for his own back right away.

Gordon, a former Liverpool teenager, sprinted through to score under Alisson Becker’s legs after Alexander-Arnold let Mohamed Salah’s backpass slide beneath his studs with 25 minutes played.

However, the chaos on the field was far from done as only three minutes after Gordon’s goal, Brooks displayed a red card to Van Dijk, who was dismissed for denying Isak a golden chance to score.

Before reluctantly making his way down the tunnel, Van Dijk offered a couple of strong words for the referees. Klopp ultimately faced the bullet and substituted Luis Diaz in favor of Gomez.

Virgil Van Dijk saw red for denying Isak a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Photo/Sky Sports

After that frantic half-hour, Klopp’s team was in serious trouble, and it needed a magnificent stop from Alisson to prevent Miguel Almiron Newcastle from scoring in the 36th minute. Alisson displayed incredible reaction time to block the Paraguayan’s attempt onto the crossbar.

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However, Liverpool was able to limit Howe’s team to just one goal in the opening 45 minutes and did make several incursions into the Newcastle area early in the second half. In the 68th minute, Sven Botman had to make a last-ditch block to stop Mohamed Salah from scoring from close range.

Eventually, Newcastle’s failure to stop Liverpool’s momentum would prove disastrous, as Nunez quickly leveled the score in the 81st minute by taking advantage of a botched effort by Botman.

The Reds’ goal was more than deserved given the character of their tenacious performance, but things would unwittingly get even better for Klopp’s undermanned team when Salah found Nunez in the third minute of stoppage time, and the Uruguayan scored from the right side of the box with a shot that was an exact replica of his first.

Liverpool pulled out the most unlikely triumph from the jaws of loss and a stunned Newcastle had no reaction to Nunez’s strikes. The Reds have a whole week to recuperate before facing Aston Villa at Anfield the following Saturday.