Newcastle United 1-2 Liverpool – Player Ratings

A Darwin Nuñez double sealed an improbable 2-1 victory for Liverpool over Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday, after captain Virgil van Dijk was shown a red card in the first half.

The game started off deradfully for the Reds. Trent Alexander-Arnold was brandished a yellow card for throwing the ball away, before seconds later putting out a hand to stop the onrushing Anthony Gordon, which on another day could’ve resulted in a second yellow.

Newcastle controlled possession for the majority of the first half, and in the 25^th minute made Liverpool pay after a Mohamed Salah back-pass ran under the foot of Alexander-Arnold, allowing Gordon to run through on goal and slot past Alisson.

Things went from bad to worse for Jurgen Klopp’s men in the 28^th minute when Virgil van Dijk saw red after bringing down Alexander Isak in a potential goal scoring opportunity.

READ MORE: Did Van Dijk deserve his red card against Newcastle?

Replays showed the Liverpool captain to have won the ball, but only after swiping through the Swedish international, and VAR stuck with the on-field decision of John Brooks.

Alisson then made a world-class save for the Reds after Miguel Almiron’s edge of the box shot was tipped onto the bar from the Brazilian, as the ten remaining on-field Reds looked to be in for a long and difficult afternoon.

In the second half, Almiron almost doubled Newcastle’s lead after a mazy run starting on the half-way line ended with a curling effort smacking the Liverpool post. However, substitutes Harvey Elliot, Diogo Jota and Nuñez helped to swing the game back in Liverpool's favour.

After a Newcastle mistake, the Reds' new number nine found himself one-on-one with Pope, and at a tight angle, struck a beautiful finish into the bottom left-hand corner to bring Liverpool level.

Deep into stoppage time, just when it seemed as if Liverpool would be getting a hard-earned point from St. James’ Park, Salah played an exquisite through ball for Nuñez, who again struck low into the far corner to make himself the hero and win the game against the odds.

One more late positive for Liverpool at the end of the game was a Premier League debut for 20-year-old Jarell Quansah, who had an assured few minutes at the back for the Reds.

The Reds will be without captain Van Dijk next weekend against Aston Villa, but will take plenty of heart from how they performed without him.

The Reds host Aston Villa at Anfield next Sunday.

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Liverpool player ratings

GK: Alisson (8), RB: Alexander-Arnold (6), CB: Matip (6), CB: Van Dijk (3), LB: Robertson (6), CM: Endo (6), CM: Szoboslai (8), CM: Mac Allister (6) RW: Salah (8), ST: Gakpo (6) LW: Diaz (6).

Subs: Gomez (7), Elliot (8), Jota (6), Nunez (10), Quansah (8)

Man of the match: Darwin Nuñez