Virgil van Dijk Sends Message To Liverpool Teen Rio Ngumoha After Stunning Winner Vs Newcastle

‎Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk said the hard work has only begun for 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha after his dramatic winner secured a 3-2 victory at Newcastle for the Premier League champions.

‎Ngumoha became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer on his debut after coming off the bench to score in the 100th minute at a frenzied St. James’ Park on Monday.

‎Liverpool had led 2-0 against 10 men thanks to goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, either side of Anthony Gordon’s red card.

‎Newcastle were kept going all night by a surge of anger over Liverpool’s bid for their star striker, Alexander Isak, who was absent as he sought a move away from the club.

The Magpies fought back despite going a man down, with goals from Bruno Guimarães and William Osula securing their recovery.‎

‎But Ngumoha, who impressed in pre-season for the Reds, finished off a fine Liverpool move deep into stoppage time to make it two wins from two games of their title defence.

‎”It’s a dream debut for him,” said Van Dijk.

‎”I’m very pleased for Rio, I’ve said it to him already, it all starts now, he has to keep working hard and stay humble, but you definitely have to enjoy this because these nights, you can’t take them for granted if you’re in his position.

‎”I’m sure with the players we have, he will be back in training and having a hard session tomorrow again.”

‎Van Dijk said the stand-off between the clubs over Isak’s future had poured “oil on the fire” of an already typically ferocious atmosphere at St. James’ Park.

‎”We all know it’s a difficult place to come. We know there was a lot of oil on the fire this week to get Newcastle fired up,” added the Dutch defender.

‎”What happened tonight was expected, and, for us, the disappointing part was that we conceded two set pieces. That shouldn’t happen, but overall, great three points.”

‎A defeat leaves Newcastle with only a single point from their first two fixtures. A striker dilemma looms before the window closes in a week, unless Isak can be persuaded to rejoin Eddie Howe’s squad.

‎”I think a great performance from the players, both first and second half, in very different ways,” said Howe.

‎”First half, we thought we dominated the game. We were in a great place with just the goal missing. Second half, we had a mountain to climb at 2-0 down with 10 men, but I thought we controlled the game.

‎”I thought we were really good and fought our way back unbelievably well, but couldn’t get over the line to get a point.”