In the opening round of the new English Premier League season, Newcastle hosted Liverpool at St James' Park. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, giving fans four goals and an emotional performance by supporters in memory of the legendary Kevin Keegan, who passed away in July 2026. This is reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing Newcastle's account on the social network X.
Match flow: four goals and a tense affair
Matthias Jaissle's side stunned the visitors as early as the 5th minute — Anthony Elanga scored. The first half was played in a tough vein: referee Stuart Attwell showed the opponents four yellow cards in the first half alone. The turning point came at the start of the second half: Cody Gakpo levelled the score, but Liverpool failed to build on it — two minutes later, Joseph Willock put Newcastle back in front.
Szoboszlai's penalty saved Liverpool
The home side's advantage could have held until the final whistle, but the Merseysiders rescued themselves in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Dominik Szoboszlai converted the penalty and earned his team a vital point in the first match of the new championship, denying Newcastle a home win.
A tribute to Kevin Keegan
At the first home game of the season, Newcastle fans paid tribute to Kevin Keegan, who played for the club from 1982 to 1984 and managed the team from 1992 to 1997. In 1978 and 1979, the player was awarded the Ballon d'Or. On social media, the club accompanied the tribute footage with the caption "A tribute fit for King" — "A tribute worthy of a king".
Conflicting data
On the final score and the scorers, all verified sources agree: 2-2, with goals by Elanga, Gakpo, Willock and Szoboszlai. A minor discrepancy exists only in the details: the original Sport RBC.UA text does not explicitly state the calendar date of the match, whereas the review on sport.rambler.ru records it as 23 August 2026 (the day before the current date). In addition, the surname of the third scorer is rendered differently — "Wilcock" in the main text and "Willock" in the Rambler review; both refer to the same player, Joseph Willock. The sources contain no significant discrepancies in figures or chronology.
What's next: Round 2
In Round 2, Newcastle will travel to Tottenham on 29 August, while Liverpool will host Nottingham Forest at Anfield on the same day. It is also worth noting that Manchester City secured a hard-fought win in the opening round: Enzo Maresca's debut in charge of the "Citizens" was no easy one.
