Virgil van Dijk hails Rio Ngumoha’s ‘dream debut’ for Liverpool at Newcastle

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk celebrated Rio Ngumoha’s “dream debut” after the 16-year-old’s dramatic late winner at Newcastle.

The teenager came off the bench to score deep into stoppage time in Monday’s Premier League encounter at St James’ Park as the champions snatched a 3-2 victory after 10-man Newcastle had battled back from 2-0 down.

Van Dijk told Sky Sports: “It is a dream debut for him. It was a perfect technique. We stayed calm towards the end as well, tried to find the right solution in order to score a goal, and we did it. I’m very pleased for Rio.”

Liverpool were second best for large spells of the game despite goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, coming either side of the dismissal of Anthony Gordon, putting them into a commanding position.

The game was played in a fervent atmosphere which owed a lot to Liverpool’s failed attempt to sign Newcastle’s unsettled striker Alexander Isak.

“Obviously we all know it is a difficult place to come, we all know there was a lot of oil on the fire this week to get, especially, Newcastle fired up,” Van Dijk said.

“For us, we are disappointed to concede from two set-pieces and that shouldn’t happen but, overall, it’s a great three points. We move on and focus on the next one.”

The Dutchman had little sympathy for Gordon, who was dismissed for a challenge on Van Dijk.

On the incident, he said: “I said to him if that’s not a sending off then I don’t understand football. Unfortunately these things happen in football. If he meant it or not, it happened.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot felt Newcastle’s approach made it difficult for the visitors.

“I’m not too sure if I saw a football match today,” he said. “It was set-piece after set-piece, long throws. It didn’t have a lot to do with tactics.

“But I liked a lot how we stood strong. It was a very difficult first half hour, 45 minutes. We didn’t collapse at all and went 1-0 up.

“They going down to 10 men, you would expect is a big plus for us but when a goalkeeper takes every free-kick, there is not much hope if you are one player up. That’s why it was so difficult to bring the 2-0 over the line.”

Slot was impressed by Ngumoha’s finish.

“It was a great goal for a 16-year-old,” he said. “It was a big chance. He can finish really well for his age. How firm his shot was – you don’t see this often.

“He is so confident and for him to score is not completely a coincidence, for his age he is a really good finisher.”