IF a player who cost £69m can ever be described as the bargain of the season then Hugo Ekitike might be just that after his two latest goals underlined what has been an effortless acclimatisation to the Premier League.
It’s 15 and counting for the prolific Frenchman as Newcastle were undone by a high-profile Liverpool summer signing – the only consolation for Eddie Howe being that it wasn’t Alexander Isak.
British football’s most expensive player watched from the sidelines as he recovers from injury – the starring role he’d hoped to take following his acrimonious move from St James’ Park now firmly grasped by Ekitike.
The France international cost £56m less than the sulky Swede but has enjoyed a far more productive first six months at Anfield as his goals helped to fire his side up to fifth in the table.
The Magpies failed with two summer bids to sign Ekitike and he showed why their interest was more than justified – turning a ridiculously open contest on its head with two goals in as many minutes to wrestle the lead from the visitors as half-time approached.
Newcastle were in the ascendancy through Anthony Gordon’s first Premier League goal from open play in 33 matches for just five minutes when from an inviting Florian Wirtz cutback Ekitike poked a close-range leveller past Nick Pope with a shot the England keeper should really have saved.
Howe’s side were quickly disabused of any thoughts of limiting the damage to get through to half-time level when in the blink of an eye Liverpool’s man of the moment struck again.
Florian Wirtz scores Liverpool’s third of the night. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA
Inviting further favourable comparisons with Fernando Torres, Ekitike provided an instinctive right-foot finish as he was given too much space by Malick Thiaw after running onto a long Milos Kerkez pass down the line in a move stemming from a swift goal kick.
It was far from one-way traffic before the break as Harvey Barnes struck the inside of Alisson’s left-hand post with a thumping 20-yard free-kick. Gordon’s 36th-minute opener was more than deserved for the way Newcastle had pressed their hosts back.
The former Everton man found the bottom corner with an angled drive through the legs of Kerkez after Alexis MacAllister’s inadvertent touch to Joe Willock’s cross from the left fell perfectly for Newcastle’s lurking number 10 – who stood and celebrated with a contemptuous stare towards a stunned Kop.
Half-time failed to halt Liverpool and Ekitike’s momentum and the 23-year-old should have had a first senior hat-trick five minutes into the second half when he out-muscled Dan Burn to run clear on goal but failed to keep a low shot on target.
Wirtz has taken longer than Liverpool’s top scorer to get to grips with his first experience of the unique rigours of the English top flight, but nevertheless continued his recent run of impressive form.
The German midfielder scored for the sixth time in the last 10 games, firing a first-time effort into the bottom corner past Pope from a Mo Salah pass midway through the second half to provide Liverpool with valuable daylight.
Howe threw on the cavalry for the final 20 minutes in an attempt to salvage a point but the damage had already been done as Ibrahima Konate scored an emotional fourth in stoppage-time.
The French defender recently returned to action after the tragic loss of his father, so his celebration was a poignant one after poking the loose ball home through a crowded six-yard box after an ineffectual Pope punch at a corner.
It capped a night to forget for Newcastle, who added to a damning statistic that has seen them now squander 50 points from winning positions against the Anfield club in the Premier League era.
Alisson 7; Szoboszlai 7, Konate 7, van Dijk 7, Kerkez 6; MacAllister 6, Gravenberch 6; Salah 6 (Chiesa 84, 6), Wirtz 8 (Endo 87, 6), Gakpo 6; Ekitike 8 (Jones 84, 6).
MacAllister.
Pope 4; Trippier 5 (Osula 84, 5), Thiaw 5, Burn 6, Hall 7 (A Murphy 89, 5); Willock 6 (Woltemade 73, 6), Tonali 6, Ramsey 4; Elanga 3 (J Murphy 73, 5) , Gordon 7, Barnes 7 (Wissa 73, 5).
