Liverpool's Struggles Continue in 2-2 Draw Against Newcastle
Alexander Isak’s return to St James’ Park was supposed to crackle. Instead, it simmered, then fizzled out, as Liverpool escaped with a 2-2 draw that flattered them far more than it hurt Newcastle.
The build-up had Isak at the centre of it. Back on Tyneside, facing his former club, he walked into a wall of noise and jeers before kickoff. The response he wanted to give never came. The one he did give was a shout of pure rage.
Newcastle struck first. Liverpool were sliced open for Anthony Elanga’s opener, the kind of goal that exposes a team still learning each other’s movements and responsibilities. One sharp move, one clean finish, and Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League outing as Liverpool manager was already on the back foot.
For long spells, Liverpool’s attack looked exactly what it is: a work in progress and a man light in star power. The visitors probed, pushed, then ran out of ideas around the box. When the equaliser did arrive after the break, it owed more to persistence than fluency.
Cody Gakpo, under scrutiny off the pitch and surrounded by rumours about his future, found the breakthrough. His finish dragged Liverpool level and briefly shifted the mood in the away end. It felt like a turning point.
It wasn’t.
Almost straight from the restart, Newcastle punched back with the move of the match. A slick counter ripped through Liverpool’s structure, and this time Joe Willock, on from the bench, arrived to guide home a well-worked second. The roar from the stands carried a sense of justice: Newcastle had their lead back, and Liverpool had been warned again.
From there, the pattern hardened. Liverpool chased, but without conviction. The final third became a graveyard of half-moves and poor decisions. Crosses floated, runs went unseen, and Newcastle grew increasingly comfortable defending what they had.
Isak, though, never quite joined the party. His afternoon became a personal battle with his own finishing and his teammates’ delivery. Just after the 70-minute mark, he finally found space in a dangerous pocket, only for Milos Kerkez to overhit a cross that sailed beyond him. Isak’s roar of “Milos!” cut through the noise, the forward throwing his head into his hands as another opening vanished.
He could hardly point fingers for long. Minutes earlier, he had lashed a presentable chance over the bar. In the final 10 minutes, a misjudged header summed up his day: close enough to matter, nowhere near clean enough to count. The narrative of the returning forward haunting his old club never materialised. He trudged on, still goalless, still agitated.
Liverpool, somehow, still had a lifeline.
It came from the bench. Victor Munoz, one of the new faces in Iraola’s squad, replaced Rio Ngumoha in the second half and brought a spark Liverpool had been missing. Deep into stoppage time, he darted into the box and drew a clumsy trip from Lewis Hall. The whistle blew. Penalty.
Isak was still on the pitch, but this was Liverpool’s moment, not Newcastle’s. One of the newly appointed vice-captains, Dominik Szoboszlai, took the ball and the responsibility. Under fierce pressure, he arrowed his spot kick into the top corner, a ruthless strike that tore a point from Newcastle’s grasp and handed Iraola a result his team’s performance barely merited.
The final whistle left Liverpool relieved and reflective. The problems were impossible to ignore. Their attacking patterns lacked clarity, the midfield looked disjointed, and the full-backs never fully convinced. The issues in the final third, glaring as they were, might not even top Iraola’s list when he reviews this game.
Off the pitch, the clock is ticking. Liverpool’s hierarchy has 10 days left to shape a squad that still carries a Mohamed Salah-sized void. Ronald Araujo has arrived on loan from Barcelona, Munoz has come in from Osasuna, but the talismanic presence out wide remains unfilled.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye sit high on the wishlist, yet talks with the French champions have stalled. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh is another option Liverpool admire, but he comes with a hefty price tag and an injury that complicates any move.
Then there is Gakpo. He scored here, did his job on the night, and still walks into a week of speculation. Tottenham are circling, sensing an opportunity if Liverpool decide to cash in and reshape the front line again.
One game into the season, Iraola has his first point and his first headache. The question now is simple: will Liverpool fix this squad in time, or will nights like this become the story of their year?
