Paraphrase the following: The fallout from Liverpool’s commanding win over Newcastle is still being felt, but one post-match admission has really stood out.
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon spoke with striking honesty after the game, openly admitting he had completely misjudged both Liverpool and one particular player. There was no spin or excuses in his words — just disbelief and respect for what unfolded on the pitch.
“I was wrong to underestimate him and Liverpool,” Gordon admitted, looking drained. He explained how Newcastle’s game plan fell apart almost immediately. What shocked fans and pundits alike wasn’t just what he said, but who he was talking about.
It wasn’t Mohamed Salah. It wasn’t Dominik Szoboszlai. The player who caught everyone off guard was Hugo Ekitiké.
From the opening minutes, Ekitiké brought an intensity Newcastle simply couldn’t cope with. He didn’t rely on flashy skills or spectacular goals. Instead, his influence was constant, smart, and suffocating. Every time Newcastle tried to build momentum, they ran straight into him — as if he was always one step ahead of their next move.
Gordon didn’t hold back. “He destroyed Newcastle and made all our tactics useless,” he said. “No matter what we tried, we never had a real chance of winning.” Those words weren’t just frustration talking.
Italian journalists at the match reported that Gordon repeated the same sentiment in the dressing room, acknowledging that Ekitiké had almost single-handedly shut down Newcastle’s entire defensive structure.
Behind that performance was detailed planning from Liverpool’s coaching staff. A source within the club’s technical team revealed that Ekitiké was given a tailored role specifically for this matchup.
He was instructed to drift between the lines, press with precision rather than nonstop intensity, and attack the exact zones Newcastle rely on to transition from defense to attack.
The result? A performance that didn’t just win a game — it dismantled an opponent’s entire plan and forced a rival player to admit, publicly, that Liverpool and Hugo Ekitiké were simply on another level.
