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Virgil van Dijk described Rio Ngumoha's game-winning cameo against Newcastle as the "dream debut" after the 16-year-old scored a decisive 100th-minute goal at St. James' Park.
Liverpool looked to be on course to drop two points after surrendering a two-goal lead in the North East, and when 11 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes were signaled by the fourth official, it looked as though Newcastle was the more likely team to go on and win it — despite being down to 10 men as a result of Anthony Gordon's first-half red card.
Sixteen-year-old Ngumoha, making his first appearance in the top flight, though, needed just four minutes to score his first goal after being introduced in the 96th minute.
"It's a dream debut for him," Van Dijk told Sky Sports. "I think that whole attack was quite good. Harvey started it, the dummy [from Szoboszlai], it was the perfect attack.
"We stayed calm towards the end and tried to find the right solution. I'm very pleased for Rio. He has to keep working hard and stay humble, but he has to enjoy tonight as he can't take it for granted. I'm sure with the players we have, he'll be back at training tomorrow having a hard session."
Van Dijk was involved in one of the game's biggest flashpoints as he was on the receiving end of a brutal challenge from Gordon, which resulted in the Newcastle forward being sent off in the closing stages of the first half after a VAR intervention.
"I said to him if that's not a sending off I don't understand football," Van Dijk responded when he was asked what he said to Gordon in the aftermath of the challenge. "It was strange he [the referee] had to go to the monitor. Unfortunately these things happen. Whether he meant it or not, it happened, that's it. We move on."
On the challenge posed by Newcastle on the night, Van Dijk responded: "We know it's a difficult place to come. What happened tonight was expected. The disappointing part was that we conceded two set pieces.
"They have the quality if you look at the traditional top six here last year, there was only a couple that managed to beat them. It's always a difficult place to come. I enjoy these atmospheres. I was looking forward to it but we could have made it easier for ourselves."
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