In the fifth round of the Premier League season, Liverpool triumphed over Newcastle at Anfield on Wednesday in an incredible way, with Fabio Carvalho claiming a late, late victory for his team after Roberto Firmino cancelled out Alexander Isak’s opener for the visitors.
There’s plenty to talk about when it comes to what happened in this match.
Alexander Isak
Newcastle completed the €70m signing of Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad so close to this match that even manager Eddie Howe didn’t know if the newcomer would be eligible to make the Anfield trip. It was an important question that Howe needed answered as soon as possible, with Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin ruled out through injury. In the end, the news was positive and Isak was named to start.
The price tag on the back of the young striker has been a subject of much debate over the past few days, but the 22-year-old justified the faith placed in him both by the club and the manager. He proved a real handful, even for a defender of Virgil van Dijk’s calibre.
Making smart runs and always picking the right channels do show off his formidable pace, Isak was extremely difficult to track, and on top of that, he proved he’s not easy to deal with in the air either. It was there of little surprise when his smart movement, coupled with the quick thinking and fine vision of Sean Longstaff, Isak avoided a half-hearted offside trap in the 38th minute and put one past Alisson Becker to break the deadlock.
He managed to beat the Liverpool ‘keeper again in the 55th minute, but that time he wasn’t so careful and the offside flag was rightly raised, saving the hosts from seeing the mountain they had to climb double in size.
Three minutes after Firmino’s equalizer, Howe judged the Sweden international had had enough and he replaced the newcomer with Chris Wood. Regardless of going off while the contest was still out there to be won, as well as the eventual outcome, Isak can be proud of his Premier League debut in which he scored against Liverpool at Anfield.
Harvey Elliott
Still only 19, Harvey Elliott has shown many times now that football at its highest level isn’t out of his league. Even when Liverpool played poorly this season, and that has been the case more than manager Jurgen Klopp would’ve liked, the youngster was a bright piece of the puzzle, always looking to get involved both offensively and defensively.
Despite his 5’7” frame to go with his tender age, Elliott was not afraid of getting physical against the likes of 6’2” Joelinton, or even the 6’6” Dan Burn when the situation required, and they mostly found it difficult to deal with his skill, desire and creativity.
This is a player who is basically yet to put a foot wrong since being given a shot in the senior squad at the start of last season, playing mostly as a right-sided midfielder, but also capable of deputizing for Mohamed Salah on the attacking flank if need be. There can be no doubt about Klopp rating him highly, or about him having quite a role to play at Liverpool for years to come.
The late goal discussions
There has been plenty of talk about Carvalho’s late winner. It’s an indisputable fact that the fourth official had raised the board with the number 5 at the end of the 90th minute, defining the minimum for the added time. Therefore, many, former Newcastle star Alan Shearer included, were perplexed by referee Andre Marriner putting off to blow the final whistle after that time had expired, apparently until Liverpool scored.
However, it has to be said that some Newcastle players, most notably Joelinton, Jamal Lascelles and goalkeeper Nick Pope, did whatever they could to waste time, even after the 90 minutes had gone. Pope alone took almost two minutes away having gone down in the 92nd, complaining of an apparent injury, after which he had no trouble in getting up and continuing between the posts.
All in all, there was nothing wrong in Marriner deciding to add more time to the game, and making sure that on this occasion at least, playacting wasn’t rewarded. Carvalho went as far as taunting the Newcastle players by acting as is injured as he celebrated the goal.
Scuffles broke in the dugout area following Carvalho’s goal as the two sets of staff had plenty to say to each other. Some on the Newcastle bench were so revolted by the developments that they almost started a fight, and some were even seen throwing things towards those on the Liverpool side. It will be interesting to see if the Premier League chooses to make any comments on those unpleasant moments.
Liverpool were very far from their best at the start of the match, but their resilience and determination to return from being down and build on the comprehensive win over Bournemouth on Saturday must be commended, just as much as the way Newcastle approached the contest and played until Firmino’s equalizer. All in all, it cannot be said that the home team didn’t deserve the three points.
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