It was a treble of sorts, though not one that brought the match ball or any cause for celebration. Liverpool’s season started at Newcastle, paying tribute to a man who scored hat-tricks for both clubs, in Kevin Keegan. Ryan Gravenberch’s campaign began with passes that led to three goals. Although the inconvenient detail was that two of them were Newcastle goals.
In the Dutchman’s defence, two misplaced balls, even one from a backheel, could easily have been forgotten, given that he lost the ball around 80 yards from his own goal, but for the clinical nature of Newcastle’s lightning counterattacks. Though a contributory factor was that Liverpool’s supposedly defensive midfielder was so advanced, caught ahead of the ball when a change in manager may make it even more important he is behind it.
