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Arne Slot slammed Newcastle United’s tactics after Liverpool snatched a dramatic 3-2 win at St James’ Park, insisting “that wasn’t a football match” following Rio Ngumoha’s last-gasp strike.
Sixteen-year-old Ngumoha scored 10 minutes into stoppage time to seal victory for the Reds on Monday Night Football, after Newcastle had battled back from 2-0 down despite playing half the match with 10 men.
Read more: Liverpool launch title defense with emotional 4-2 win as Anfield honors Jota
In a match reported by Sky Sports, Anthony Gordon’s dismissal in first-half injury time left Eddie Howe’s side a player short, but the hosts turned to set-pieces and long throws to trouble Liverpool.
Their direct approach paid off as they scored twice to level the contest, only for Ngumoha to snatch the headlines with his late finish.
The scrappy encounter was littered with fouls — 19 before half-time — and saw the ball in play for just 40.8% of the match, the lowest figure recorded in the Premier League since February 2010 (Stoke 3-0 Blackburn, 40%).
Slot, visibly frustrated afterwards, criticised Newcastle’s approach.
“I’m not too sure if I saw a football match today,” the Liverpool head coach said. “It was set-piece after set-piece, long throw. It didn’t have a lot to do with tactics. But I liked how we stood strong. Very difficult first half hour, 45 minutes, but we didn’t collapse at all.”
The Dutchman admitted he expected Liverpool to dominate once Gordon was sent off, but argued Newcastle’s reliance on long balls and their goalkeeper taking every free-kick nullified the numerical advantage.
“Going down to 10 men, you’d expect that to be a big plus for us,” he explained. “But when a goalkeeper takes every free-kick, it doesn’t help so much if you’re one player up. That’s why it was so difficult to bring the 2-0 over the line.”
Despite his criticism, Slot praised the decisive moment that led to Ngumoha’s winner.
“With the ball, the one and only attack that was really good in the second half — apart from maybe our second goal — was the one that led to the winner. We went from right, to the middle, to the left, and it was a great goal for a 16-year-old.”
The result leaves Liverpool celebrating an unlikely victory in a game more notable for chaos and controversy than quality football.
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