Despite it being clear that he would represent neither side in this fixture, all of the pre-match chat surrounded Alexander Isak and the transfer saga that has dominated the summer window.
As a result, tensions were high on Tyneside, with the home fans showing their support for manager Eddie Howe before play got underway.
Both sets of players got stuck in right from the off with tackles flying in, resulting in a booking for Ryan Gravenberch, who was making his return from suspension.
Newcastle looked the more dangerous side in a frantic opening quarter-hour, but it was Nick Pope who was first called into action to deny Florian Wirtz’s curling effort.
The intensity remained incredibly high, as Anthony Gordon had three opportunities in as many minutes after getting on the end of crosses into the box, but his efforts never hit the target.
Momentum seemed to be with the Magpies, but all of the home side’s good work was undone when Gravenberch picked the ball up from 30 yards, took a touch and buried his finish into the bottom corner.
That made it 36 successive league games in which Liverpool have scored, and their task of holding onto that lead became easier on the stroke of half-time when Gordon was dismissed following a VAR review into his dangerous, sliding tackle into Virgil van Dijk from behind.
Down to 10 men, Howe would have wanted his side to keep it tight, but there was no hope of that as Liverpool doubled their lead within 20 seconds of the restart. Cody Gakpo’s blocked shot fell back to the Dutchman, and he poked it to Hugo Ekitike, who produced a sublime finish into the bottom corner for his third goal in as many games for the Reds.
Newcastle were down but not out, and cut the deficit on 57 minutes when Tino Livramento’s cross into the box was nodded home by Bruno Guimaraes.
Having initially struggled to build on that momentum, Newcastle rallied in the closing stages and got their reward in the 88th minute.
Pope’s long ball was not dealt with by the Liverpool defence, allowing William Osula to get onto Dan Burn’s flick-on and poke the ball past Alisson for just his second-ever Premier League goal.
That goal looked as though it was going to earn the Magpies a well-deserved point, but a Slot super sub had the final say when, in the 100th minute, Ngumoha pounced on Mohamed Salah’s low cross to curl into the corner with aplomb and snatch all three points for the champions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle)
Key stats
- Rio Nguhoma is the fourth youngest scorer in Premier League history (16 years, 361 days), behind James Vaughan (16y 270d), James Milner (16y 356d) and Wayne Rooney (16y 360d)
- Cody Gakpo has contributed to goals in his last 3 games in the Premier League (1 goal, 3 assists)
- Liverpool have scored in their last 36 games in the Premier League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 36 games from 10th March 2019 to 24th February 2020
