Szoboszlai's Late Penalty Rescues Liverpool Against Newcastle
Andoni Iraola’s Premier League debut as Liverpool manager went right to the edge of chaos, then snapped back in his favour with almost the final kick of the game.
Dominik Szoboszlai, ice-cold in the ninth minute of stoppage time, buried a penalty to drag Liverpool level for the second time and silence a St James’ Park already tasting a statement opening‑day win.
Newcastle had led 1-0 and 2-1. They still walked away feeling like they had lost.
Liverpool stumble, Newcastle blink
For long spells, Liverpool were flat. Iraola admitted as much without saying it outright. His team chased the game twice, coughed up control, then somehow staggered out with a draw.
"It's not the result you wanted before the game, but obviously finishing, scoring in the last minute, it gives you a better taste," he said. "I don't think we deserve to lose the game today.
"I value the effort from the players, they never gave up, and at the end it arrived, and we could recover at least one point."
Newcastle, rebuilt and stripped of several big names over the summer, had done the hard part. Anthony Elanga struck first, punishing Liverpool and sparking the noise on Tyneside. The Magpies then had chances to tighten their grip. Instead, they loosened it.
Early in the second half, their back line backed off, inviting trouble. Cody Gakpo accepted, sweeping in the equaliser after Newcastle failed to close him down. It was a soft concession, the kind that turns loud home crowds into anxious ones.
The response, though, was sharp. Newcastle went back in front, reasserting themselves and looking, for all the world, like a side ready to usher in the Matthias Jaissle era with a signature win.
Then came the collapse.
A foul, a whistle, and two points gone
As the clock bled into stoppage time, Newcastle still held their 2-1 lead. The job looked done. The crowd stood waiting for the release of the final whistle.
Instead, Lewis Hall lunged into trouble.
His foul on Victor Munoz in the box, with the game seconds from over, was as clumsy as it was costly. Liverpool didn’t need asking twice. Szoboszlai stepped up, picked his spot and drilled in the penalty that ripped two points from Newcastle’s hands.
"It's rough, especially 30 seconds before the end of the game, but that's a huge step for us. That's the mentality we need to have through the season," said Yoane Wissa, who reflected the frustration and the optimism of a side still under construction.
"The manager (Matthias Jaissle) came three weeks ago and gave us a lot of information, now we show on the pitch we are ready for the season. We needed this win to make a statement, but in the end we draw. We have so much to work on."
Jaissle knew exactly where the game slipped.
Jaissle fumes at ‘soft’ call, finds hope in the chaos
For a club that has just waved goodbye to several of its star names, a point against Liverpool would have sounded reasonable on paper. That was before they led twice, before they were a half-minute from victory, before Hall’s late tangle with Munoz.
"It was indeed a game of mixed feelings, especially in the end when you get a decision, two points away, it is really hard to digest," Jaissle said.
"For me it is a really soft penalty as you call it here, if you give these penalties then you need to give a lot in the season."
He didn’t hide his irritation, but he didn’t ignore the bigger picture either.
"But there is also a lot of confidence and we are really proud of what we saw, the young lads were doing an amazing job with all the challenges of a transition period.
This was special, already delivering on a high level and it makes us proud. (Newcastle have) a really good base to build on."
Iraola, for his part, leaves Tyneside with the kind of point that can feel bigger than it looks on the table. His team were far from fluent, yet refused to fold.
Newcastle leave with the opposite feeling: a performance that hinted at promise, but a result that will sting for days. If this is their new baseline under Jaissle, what happens when the late-game naivety fades and those “soft” moments are cut out?
