Nunez at the double as 10-man Liverpool stun Newcastle

Liverpool snatched a sensational victory against Newcastle on Sunday as the Reds fought back from a goal down to beat the Magpies thanks to two late strikes from Darwin Nunez. Jurgen Klopp’s side appeared dead and buried after Anthony Gordon opened the scoring and Virgil van Dijk was sent off for a foul on Alexander Isak, but the Uruguayan striker scored a brace off the bench to give 10-man Liverpool a famous win on Tyneside.

The home side started on the front foot in a fixture dominated by the Reds in recent history, with Newcastle remaining winless in their last 13 Premier League games against Liverpool stretching back to December 2015. Trent Alexander-Arnold was at the centre of the action in the opening exchanges, avoiding a second yellow card after just six minutes for a foul on Anthony Gordon.

The right-back, though, was at fault for the goal as he failed to control Mohamed Salah’s pass, allowing former Everton man Anthony Gordon to run through on goal unopposed. The young winger capitalised on the right-back’s error and produced a calm finish through the legs of Alisson to send St. James Park into raptures, putting Newcastle United 1-0 ahead after 25 minutes.

Things went from bad to worse for Jurgen Klopp’s side two minutes later when Virgil van Dijk received his marching orders for a clumsy tackle on Alexander Isak. The Liverpool captain took out the Swedish striker on the edge of the box, receiving a straight red card from referee Jon Brooks for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Magpies nearly capitalised on their man advantage later in the half to double their lead, but Alisson produced a world-class save to deny Miguel Almiron, tipping the winger’s volley onto the bar to keep Liverpool in the contest. The Paraguayan also hit the post with a curled strike in the second period, with Newcastle unable to find a second goal to put the game to bed.

Having been kept alive by Alisson’s heroics and some valiant defending with ten men, Liverpool stunned the home crowd in the 81^st minute by drawing level. Darwin Nunez offered a lifeline for the Reds off the bench, pouncing on an error from Sven Botman to run in behind the Newcastle backline and send his stinging shot past Nick Pope into the bottom corner.

12 minutes later, lightning struck again for the visitors as Nunez slammed home the winner in stoppage time from a similar angle, giving the ten men of Liverpool a remarkable victory on their travels.