'Chelsea were angry to lose him' - who is Liverpool's Ngumoha?

Sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha became the fourth youngest scorer in Premier League history when he swept home Liverpool's winning goal in their 3-2 victory at Newcastle on Monday night.

Reds boss Arne Slot turned to the teenager in the sixth minute of stoppage time, throwing on a player who will turn 17 on Friday in a last roll of the dice.

The 10 men of Newcastle had been 2-0 down but were roared back to level terms by their passionate supporters and even seemed to have the momentum.

With the game up for grabs, Mohamed Salah slid a low ball across the box in the final stages that Dominik Szoboszlai stepped over and left for Ngumoha to expertly finish on his Premier League debut.

The magical moment came in the 100th minute and made Ngumoha the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool's history, and only the second 16-year-old to hit a winner in a Premier League game.

The first? Wayne Rooney, with his wondergoal for Everton against Arsenal in 2002.

The England Under-17 forward was mobbed by team-mates after scoring the decisive goal and was shoved in front of the travelling support on Tyneside to soak up the adoration.

For Liverpool fans, it may not come as a surprise to see Ngumoha shining on the biggest stage, considering his impressive performances during pre-season - when he netted two goals and assisted two more.

Former Arsenal forward and Premier League great Thierry Henry told Sky Sports that Ngumoha had experienced an important career moment.

"He announced himself," Henry said. "He looked like a player that had been playing for a very long time with the way he finished."

Ngumoha is not actually a Liverpool academy product, having only moved to Merseyside from Chelsea's youth set-up last summer with no club confirming the fee or whether it went to tribunal.

At the time Blues legend John Terry wrote: "This boy is and will be a top player."

He's not looking wrong.

Rio Ngumoha celebrates after scoring at St James' Park

'It's a dream debut for him'

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has told his teenage team-mate not to take moments in the spotlight "for granted".

"It's a dream debut for him," Van Dijk told Sky Sports. "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 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."

Liverpool boss Slot praised the finishing abilities of Ngumoha, saying: "It was a great goal for a 16-year-old.

"Rio can finish so well for his age. I did hear someone say afterwards in the dressing room he would have taken a first touch, but he is so confident. For his age, he is a really good finisher."

Ngumoha had Liverpool fans wondering in pre-season if he could be part of the first team this year.

He started a pre-season friendly against Athletic Bilbao on the left wing - and against that calibre of opposition he caught the eye, as he has done all summer.

The teenager scored in just the second minute, running on to a loose ball in his own half before racing forward and curling a fine effort in from 20 yards.

He caused the La Liga side all kinds of problems with his dribbling and trickery.

The 16-year-old left to a standing ovation midway through the second half.

Ngumoha's performance that day came on the back of an assist against AC Milan and goal against Yokohama F. Marinos in Asian friendlies.

In January, Ngumoha became the youngest player to start a match for Liverpool - aged 16 years and 135 days old - in the 4-0 win over Accrington in the FA Cup.

But that was his only first-team appearance of the campaign and he did not make the bench for a Premier League game until the opening game of this season against Bournemouth.

After the tragic death of Diogo Jota and the sales of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, Slot has a senior forward line of Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.

Now Ngumoha has made his breakthrough and Liverpool will hope his thrilling intervention at Newcastle is the start of something big.

When Ngumoha's departure upset Chelsea

Everyone in and around Chelsea's Cobham training ground knew Ngumoha was special.

Therefore, there was great anger when he departed for Liverpool despite multiple contract offers from the west Londoners.

Such was the anger that Chelsea were believed to have banned Liverpool's youth scouts attending academy matches.

Insiders at Chelsea now acknowledge that Liverpool and Manchester United have caught up with their own academy and that of Manchester City, which had been the most well-funded and dominant forces in youth football for the past decade or so.

Premier League's youngest scorers

1. James Vaughan (16y 270d) - for Everton v Crystal Palace, April 2005

2. James Milner (16y 356d) - for Leeds v Sunderland, December 2002

3. Wayne Rooney (16y 360d) - for Everton v Arsenal, October 2002

4. Rio Ngumoha (16y 361d) - for Liverpool v Newcastle, August 2025

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