Liverpool produced a late smash-and-grab win over Newcastle.
The visitors had snatched a late first-half lead when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s under-hit pass culminated in Alexander Isak scoring with a close-range finish.
But Jurgen Klopp’s side drew level on the hour mark as Mohamed Salah teed up Roberto Firmino for his third goal in two games from a counter-attack.
Eight minutes into added time, the Reds clinched victory through Fabio Carvalho volleying home at Nick Pope’s near post after a recycled corner
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Reds take it back to the ’90s
This fixture invariably conjures up memories of its mid-1990s heyday.
Pulsating end-to-end football went hand in hand with dramatic late winners which left Newcastle repeatedly traipsing away from Anfield crestfallen.
Those days of yore remain bittersweet for Liverpool fans who saw their team being both entertaining in its approach and also undone by its weaknesses.
Some Kopites may have suffered flashbacks watching Jurgen Klopp’s side lacking a cutting edge for large parts while conceding in preventable fashion.
Last weekend’s nine-goal pummelling of Bournemouth was never likely to be repeated against a team clearly far resilient as the Magpies ultimately proved.
Still, the Reds were in danger of suffering from a classic case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’ until Fabio Carvalho pounced deep into added time.
Pan-de-monium pic.twitter.com/gpWVyEqt8t
— Liverpool FC news (@ClickLFC) August 31, 2022
The newly turned 20-year-old reprised the role previously held by Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore in sparking pandemonium beneath the floodlights.
It was a familiar ending which compensated for a lack of entertainment value across the latest instalment of the Premier League’s most thrilling match-up.
First blood still a concern
Sequences stretching across two seasons have become Liverpool’s specialty.
Where they would bridge the gap between campaigns with a string of winning runs, however, the focus now is increasingly on the reason for a lack of them.
Alexander Isak scoring on Newcastle debut marked the fourth time in the opening five Premier League games that they have conceded the first goal.
That anomaly is made even more glaring when expanded to include a combined 10 from their last 12 games in all competitions since last term.
Ironically the last time that Klopp’s team put together a streak without drawing first blood, it culminated in April’s cagey win at St James’ Park.
Injuries admittedly have not helped the Liverpool manager, with Ibrahima Konate still sidelined and Joel Matip working his way back to match fitness.
Whether the ex-Cameroon international, an unused substitute here, can help arrest this ongoing trend in Saturday’s Merseyside derby remains to be seen.
Anfield bares its collective teeth
Amid the late euphoria, Anfield allowed its hostile side to rise to the surface.
Tensions had been simmering throughout the game as Newcastle’s players regularly tried to run down the clock but instead simply prolonged the ordeal.
Those time-wasting antics returned to haunt them as an initial five minutes of added time at the end of the second half was expanded into eight overall.
When Carvalho pounced with effectively the last kick of the game, the two respective coaching benches erupted along with the famous old stadium itself.
Several members of Klopp’s backroom staff charged towards the opposing dugout after a water bottle appeared to be thrown in their direction.
The hostility did not end there, either.
As Newcastle’s players slumped towards the tunnel at full-time, Liverpool fans soundtracked their departure with ear-splitting levels of boos and whistles.
Rarely has a visiting team received such a shellacking at the final whistle here but Anfield was clearly in the mood to bare its teeth both on and off the pitch.