12 minutes was all it took for Liverpool to turn the game around, a masterclass from Alisson and a brace from Darwin Nunez – no wonder Jurgen Klopp has never had a game like this.
The rollercoaster Liverpool took us on on Sunday was a ride that first made our stomachs sink before our hearts soared.
Liverpool had to play with 10 men for the second week in a row, but this time it lasted more than 60 minutes. And more…
Newcastle dominated possession and consistently kept out Alisson’s goal, but in the end it was not about the number of attempts but the quality of the finish,
which Nunez duly provided.
With the heart beating again, we can look at several salient statistics of FotMob’s victory.
He is simply the best, there is no other way to say it. The comeback would not have been possible without Alisson, who made a record number of saves in one match (7).
“That’s what I’m here for. It’s part of my job. I’m there to help the team,” he said coldly after the match.
Usually underrated, but his performance deserves applause and praise. Eddie Howe described his save from Almiron’s shot as “the best I’ve ever seen in my life”. We would be hard pressed to disagree
Man of the moment.
Nunez has yet to start this season, and he used that bottled-up emotion to devastating effect as his only two hits came in the back of the game.
Two shots, two goals. 100 percent accuracy. But as you can see from FotMob’s shot map (above), the shots weren’t from easy angles and he actually scored two of his goals with an xG of 0.43 – clinical.
A 13-minute match cameo from the man who feeds the team unpredictability and emotion in their celebrations
There was not a day where Liverpool dominated possession (60 per cent against 40 for Newcastle), expected goals (1.99 against 0.88) or shots (23 against 9). But it was a day when the Reds threw their bodies on the line, had to make do with 10 men and led in steals (eight to five), blocks (four to two) and bans (19 to 15). .
Dominik Szoboszlai was a workhorse with 20 tackles – a success rate of 45 per cent – while no player had more interceptions than Alexis Mac Allister (four). It all set the stage for Nunez to score after 90 minutes, Liverpool’s 42nd winner after 90 minutes in the Premier League according to Opta – more than any other team.
He may think he is the boss, but that title actually belongs to Howe, a manager who has now tasted 11 successive Premier League defeats against Klopp’s Liverpool.
No wonder he’s a little sour on us!
Klopp is the first manager in Premier League history to achieve the feat ahead of another manager, dating back to December 2017 when Howe was at Bournemouth.
Liverpool scored 29 goals in that time, while Howe’s side managed just four.
