There have been plenty of great debuts at Anfield, but most came in a Liverpool shirt, not the black-and-white stripes. If Alexander Isak’s first taste of life at Newcastle United was to experience their annual defeat at Anfield, and in particularly cruel fashion, it was in a game that may be destined to be remember for longer on Tyneside than Merseyside.
Fabio Carvalho’s winner was stunning, in its timing as well as its execution, but Isak’s introduction suggested Newcastle’s attempt to bridge the gap from the rest to the best will be accelerated with a superstar striker. This was an explosive way to announce himself for the £63m man. It was a day when Isak got his work permit and his goal; the paperwork arrived at lunchtime, the strike after 37 minutes. It was a strike of unerring accuracy and considerable power, the sort the watching Alan Shearer might have delivered.
