Dominik Szoboszlai rescues last-gasp point for Liverpool at Newcastle - 5 talking points

Liverpool salvaged a point in the 99th minute as a Dominik Szoboszlai penalty ensured Newcastle's Matthias Jaissle era didn't start with a win at St James' Park.

The Magpies were ahead inside five minutes thanks to Anthony Elanga's strike, his first for the club in the Premier League. They retained that lead going into half-time but Andoni Iraola's side came fighting back and Cody Gakpo fired home the visitors' equaliser on 55 minutes.

Liverpool weren't level for long though as Joe Willock completed another counter attack to retake the lead. Newcastle looked set for three points but, just as there was stoppage time drama last year, Dominik Szoboszlai converted from 12 yards in the 96th minute.

Newcastle broke with real pace to score the opener inside four minutes as William Osula ran at the Liverpool defence before sending Elanga clear, with the winger finishing impressively to ignited St James' Park.

Florian Wirtz forced Lukas Hornicek into a smart save as the Reds went in search of an equaliser, but that's as close as they would come in the opening 45 minutes with the hosts continuing to offer a threat in attack.

Liverpool would bring themselves back into the game when Gakpo fired home their equaliser. The Dutchman adopting a good position 25 yards out before receiving the ball in the space and firing home from range after being afforded time to take aim.

The Reds looked to have a spring in their step in the moments following their equaliser, but parity in the game only lasted three minutes. Newcastle again hit Liverpool on the counter with Yoane Wissa travelling half the pitch before finding Willock, who finished neatly.

The Magpies had almost completed their mission before a Lewis Hall foul gifted Liverpool a penalty deep into stoppage time, which Szoboszlai hammered into the roof of the net to rescue a point.

After a summer that saw Newcastle cash in on three of their leading lights for more than £240million plenty have tipped the Magpies to have a season of struggle, especially after their change of manager midway through pre-season.

But Sunday's performance showed that this Newcastle side still have it in them to give it to the country's top teams. The St James' Park crowd also still believe and only need a bit of desire from their team to play their part from the stands. There's still much to like about the Newcastle gameplan, even if they don't have the stellar names of years gone by. Had you gone into hiding over the summer and reappeared for the opening weekend, you wouldn't have known so much negativity had swirled about the Toon, but conceding so late will make Sunday's outing feel like a defeat.

Last season it was hard to gauge whether the title win of 2025 was the outlier or a fair reflection of where Liverpool should be, given they dropped to fifth last term.

That demise cost Arne Slot his job and Iraola was quickly bought in as his replacement. Results in pre-season, where the Merseysiders twice gave up two-goal leads to lose, exposed defensive flaws with the Spanish boss admitting the team weren't yet primed to play the style he demanded.