Darwin Nunez Dazzles As Liverpool Beat Newcastle Despite Virgil Van Dijk Red Card
Darwin Nunez scored two late goals as 10-man Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 away at Newcastle United on Sunday.
A Liverpool victory had looked very unlikely when Virgil van Dijk received the first red card of his Liverpool career in the 28th minute.
Newcastle were already 1-0 up when referee John Brooks sent off Van Dijk for a last-man foul on Alexander Isak.
Replays showed that Van Dijk had got a big touch on the ball, but only after he made contact with Isak's right foot.
The incident was reviewed by the VAR but Brooks was not asked to look at the pitch-side monitor.
Van Dijk's dismissal came just moments after Anthony Gordon had opened the scoring.
Gordon pounced upon a mistake by Trent Alexander-Arnold - who failed to control a pass from Mo Salah - before calmly slotting a shot past Alisson Becker.
But Newcastle were unable to extend their lead despite dominating possession at St. James' Park.
Alisson made seven saves to keep his side in contention.
Nunez then entered the action as a substitute in the 77th minute.
Four minutes later, Nunez made it 1-1 by scoring his first goal since April.
Running onto a Diogo Jota through pass, Nunez capitalized on a Sven Botman error before drilling a brilliant low strike into the net from 15 yards.
Liverpool celebrated like they had just scored a last-minute winner.
They then did just that.
Nunez produced an almost identical finish in the third minute of added time to secure a remarkable result after a superb through pass from Salah.