Szoboszlai's 99th-minute penalty rescues Liverpool in Iraola's Premier League debut at Newcastle

Dominik Szoboszlai drilled a 99th-minute penalty into the top corner to snatch a 2-2 draw for Liverpool at St James’ Park on Saturday, denying Newcastle all three points in what was Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League game as Reds manager. The Hungarian midfielder insisted afterwards that his side “should have won”.

Newcastle made the perfect start under their own new head coach Matthias Jaissle, with Anthony Elanga racing clear to slide past Alisson inside five minutes. Liverpool levelled through a speculative long-range drive from Cody Gakpo that found the far corner, only to fall behind again when Yoane Wissa played in Joe Willock, who curled a superb finish beyond Alisson to make it 2-1.

Newcastle looked set to hold on for a memorable opening-day victory until Lewis Hall clipped substitute Victor Munoz in the penalty area with almost the last action of the game. Szoboszlai stepped up and rifled the spot-kick into the top corner, leaving the hosts deflated and Liverpool with a share of the points.

“If I am honest, we should have won. But that’s football,” Szoboszlai said after full-time. “You don’t win easy in the Premier League — doesn’t matter who you play against. We have to be aware of that and we need to take care in the next game. We will never give up. I can guarantee you that.”

The midfielder also highlighted the squad contribution: “Everybody who came off the bench also made an impact as well today. We need the whole squad and we need to be ready.”

Iraola echoed the sentiment that Liverpool merited more from the game. “It’s probably not the result you want when you come in before the game but we definitely deserve this point and even more,” the Spaniard said. “The team has never given up and we’ve recovered one point and probably the taste is better because we score in the last minute. I think it has been a difficult game in terms of starting to lose the game with this atmosphere and I think we have done enough.”

The draw leaves Liverpool in ninth place after the opening round of Premier League fixtures, with their second game of the season against Nottingham Forest to come next Saturday.