It was in Japan last month, during Liverpool’s pre-season tour, that club legend Ian Rush suggested Rio Ngumoha could be an option as a substitute this season. “He can come on and make a difference,” said Rush, Liverpool’s greatest goalscorer.
Even accounting for Ngumoha’s promising performances during pre-season, Rush most likely did not expect to be quite a sage for how Liverpool’s second Premier League game of the season against Newcastle United would pan out.
Introduced in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, scored the winner in the tenth, Virgil van Dijk rightly called it “a dream debut” for the 16-year-old, who became the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history at 16 years and 361 days and will only sign a senior contract when he turns 17 on Friday.
Talk has been plentiful ever since Ngumoha signed from Chelsea last September. Liverpool's poaching of the talented teenager led to club scouts being banned from attending matches at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground in an act of retaliation.
It is understood that one of the reasons why Ngumoha moved to Liverpool was the clear pathway into the first team set-up, which contrasted with Chelsea’s constant stream of new attackers that clouded the picture in west London.
Ngumoha made his senior debut in Liverpool’s 4-0 FA Cup third round victory over Accrington Stanley last season. Having played for the club’s under-18s before quickly progressing into the under-21s, this was the first time Anfield got a glimpse of the future.
Immediately apparent was his ability, and tenacity, to go one-on-one with defenders. Becoming a more finished product is still some way away, but the past month has shown that his end product has improved, too.
An assist against AC Milan and a goal against Yokohama FM were capped off when he produced both in the final pre-season friendly against Athletic Bilbao. One name kept being brought up as Liverpool prepared for the new season, and it was Ngomoha’s.
So, at St James’ Park when Dominik Szoboszlai dummied Mohamed Salah’s pass and the ball came to the fresh-faced substitute, the first-time finish beyond Nick Pope represented the next step in a career already on fast forward.
“He’s shown it already a few times,” Slot said afterwards. “It was a big chance. And he’s a player that can finish really well for his age. How firm his shot was… you don’t see this often for a 16-year-old.
“I did hear someone say afterwards in the dressing room — I’m not going to say who it was — that he probably would have taken that ball, had a first touch and then finished it off.
“But he’s so confident. That’s also what I like, because the first ball he got, he wasn’t afraid. He immediately took someone on.”
Slot will be mindful of not putting too much pressure on the youngster and ensuring his development continues. But, if they hadn’t already done so, the other attackers in the Liverpool squad will now know competition has risen again.
Van Dijk said: “I’m very pleased for Rio, I’ve said it to him already: it all starts now, he has to keep working hard and stay humble but definitely has to enjoy this because these nights, you can’t take them for granted if you’re in his position.”
Control missing from Liverpool's early performances
Why Liverpool found themselves in this particular position in the North East was down to them letting a two-goal lead slip for the second successive game, after conceding twice against Bournemouth before digging deep to win the match again.
The febrile atmosphere at Newcastle was almost unique — amplified by the Alexander Isak saga and it being their first home game of the campaign and under the lights — and Liverpool were fortunate to be ahead in the first place.
The visitors’ efficiency was remarkable, but they again looked susceptible in defence, with Ibrahima Konaté appearing particularly liable. At times, Newcastle launched themselves at Liverpool without abandon and dominated the shot count.
During the second half, and especially once Bruno Guimarães had given them their lifeline, it was difficult to tell which team were down a player. Had Anthony Gordon not been sent off, Ngumoha’s heroics may not have been needed.
Conceding six goals in three games, including the Community Shield, is too many for Slot and gives credence to the suggestion that such wild games could be more of a feature of Liverpool’s campaign, given the summer upheaval.
On the other hand, the champions are two wins from two at the start of the league season before hosting Arsenal on Sunday, and their fighting mentality was the main positive as far as captain and head coach were concerned. “We stayed calm at the end to find the right solution to score the goal,” Van Dijk concluded.
Whilst Slot, who referenced the “complete chaos” of last season’s Merseyside derby as the only other time he has experienced such a wild atmosphere, said: “Winning away at Newcastle, then you definitely need to have quality.
“Especially in an atmosphere like this — not football quality because that’s not what we showed today, apart from the last goal we scored. But to have the mentality to fight here in such a hostile stadium, that is definitely something you also need if you want to compete in the end.
“Winning is something else, but at least competing you definitely have to have this mentality — and that’s what we showed. For us to stay strong in that atmosphere for such a long time is worth more to me than when we play every single time out from the back and we have a four or five-nil win.”
It was an evening of fire and brimstone, and as a result Liverpool discovered a gem.
