LONDON: Liverpool overcame an early red card for captain Virgil van Dijk to snatch a dramatic 2-1 Premier League victory at Newcastle.

Manager Jurgen Klopp’s men were already a goal down when Van Dik was sent off for the first time in a Liverpool shirt. However substitute Darwin Nunez not only rescued a point in the 81st minute but fired the winner to convert a Mo Salah assist three minutes into stoppage time.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had shrugged off midweek speculation about a bid from Saudi Arabia for Salah and was happy to improve the balance of his team by starting with Wataru Endo in defensive midfield. This allowed Alexis Mac Allister to move forward happily into a more comfortable offensive role after having the previous week’s red card rescinded.

Klopp had indicated that Trent Alexander-Arnold would try to develop the popular new inverted fullback role. However that experiment might have been stifled within the opening minutes.

First Alexander-Arnold was shown a yellow card for throwing the ball away after a clash with Anthony Gordon then he was given a ‘final warning’ by referee John Brooks after a second clash with the Newcastle winger.

Luis Diaz and Salah had early half-chances for Liverpool before Liverpool-born Gordon shot Newcastle ahead in the 25th minute. Alexander-Arnold was the culprit. He failed to control a pass back from Salah and Gordon raced away to shot low past Alisson.

Two minutes 20 seconds later matters went from back to worse. Alexander Isak accelerated through the Liverpool defence and was brought down by Van Dijk.

Referee Brooks had no hesitation in showing Liverpool’s captain a red card for the denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Van Dijk disagreed and left the officials in no doubt about his opinion as he left the pitch.

It was the ninth red card of the new Premier League season and the second in successive matches for a Liverpool player after Mac Allister. Klopp sent on Joe Gomez to shore up defence at the expense of Diaz.

The second half saw Liverpool defend effectively to hold Newcastle at bay. They had one moment of luck when Miguel Almiron hit a post. However Klopp sought to turn the tables in the closing stages by reinforcing his attack with Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and then Nunez.

Liverpool were duly rewarded in spectacular fashion when Nunez first punished a slip by Sven Botman in the 80th minute and then converted a Salah assist three minutes into stoppage time.

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