Rio Ngumoha wrote himself into history books when he scored a stoppage-time winner on his Premier League debut for Liverpool against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Monday.
Ngumoha, who is four days shy of turning 17, slotted home the decisive goal for the Reds in the 10th minute of added time to give his side the three points.
The teenage forward become the youngest scorer in the Premier League for Liverpool, while he is the fourth youngest in history behind James Vaughan, James Milner and Wayne Rooney.
Ngumoha’s effort was only the second instance of a 16-year-old scoring a winning goal in Premier League history with the first being Rooney’s goal against Arsenal in 2002.
The goal against Newcastle at 99 minutes and 44 seconds was also the fourth latest winning goal in the competition’s history behind Cole Palmer (101 min 41 sec), Dejan Kulusevski (99 min 53 sec) and Bruno Fernandes (99 min 45 sec).
Ngumoha’s skipper Virgil van Dijk labelled it a ‘dream debut’.
“It’s a dream debut for him — I’m very pleased for Rio. I mentioned to him before hard work starts now and he has to stay humble — I’m sure with the players we have he’ll be back training hard tomorrow,” said van Dijk.
Newcastle vs Liverpool – As it happened
Ngumoha, who was a Chelsea academy product, moved to Anfield in 2024 and made his FA Cup debut last season, which made him the youngest starter in the club’s history.
He impressed on the pre-season tour to Asia, where he scored two goals and set up two more, with his manager Arne Slot talking him up for a key role for the upcoming campaign.
“I don’t know what senior players exactly means, does that mean you play for your country or you’re a certain age? Because a player like Rio showed in the last few games he played for us that, at senior level, he can make an impact as well.”
Youngest scorers in Premier League history
1. James Vaughan (Everton) – 16 years, 270 days – 10/04/05
2. James Milner (Leeds United) – 16 years, 356 days – 26/12/02
3. Wayne Rooney (Everton) – 16 years, 360 days – 19/10/02
4. Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool)- 16 years, 361 days – 25/08/25
5. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) – 17 years, 113 days – 25/08/04
Published on Aug 26, 2025
