Iraola praises Liverpool after dramatic 2-2 draw at Newcastle on opening day

Andoni Iraola praised Liverpool's character after his side came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United at St James' Park on the opening day of the Premier League season, with Dominik Szoboszlai converting a stoppage-time penalty to complete the comeback.

Iraola said he felt Liverpool did enough across the match to avoid defeat and commended his players' effort. "I don't think we deserved to lose the game and I value the effort from the players," he told Sky Sports. He added that his team created opportunities but failed to finish in the first half and expected they would produce more: "I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm sure we will have more chances, more everything. I think we were arriving, probably in the first half, we were not finishing anything," he said. On the impact of substitutes he said: "I think the players coming from the bench gave us energy. I don't know if they played better, worse, but they gave us energy," he said.

Newcastle struck early when Anthony Elanga put the hosts ahead inside five minutes. Liverpool levelled after the interval when Cody Gakpo drilled the equaliser in the 55th minute. The lead changed again almost immediately, with Elanga finding Joe Willock, who "produced a superb long-range finish" to restore Newcastle's advantage two minutes later.

Liverpool debutant Victor Muoz was brought down inside the area by Lewis Hall in stoppage time, a contact which prompted a VAR review. Match officials confirmed there was "knee into thigh contact" and backed the on-field decision to award a penalty. Szoboszlai kept his composure from 12 yards and sent the penalty home in the ninth minute of added time to deny Newcastle victory.

Alexander Isak endured a quiet return to his former club, having endured an injury-disrupted first season at Liverpool after moving from Newcastle.

The match opened with a tribute to Kevin Keegan, who died last month aged 75; both clubs wore shirts bearing his name and No. 7 during the warm-up and a centre-circle mosaic, tribute video and large tifo honoured the former England star.

The late penalty meant Iraola and new Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle shared the points on their league debuts.