Dominik Szoboszlai's last-gasp penalty earned Andoni Iraola a debut Liverpool point to deny Newcastle victory on Matthias Jaissle's managerial bow in a pulsating 2-2 draw at St James' Park.
In the battle of two of the Premier League's newest head coaches, it was Jaissle's Magpies who adapted the quicker to their task despite his own admission the this summer, until Lewis Hall's 96th-minute challenge on Victor Munoz allowed Szoboszlai to rescue a draw.
Jaissle's side had flown out of the blocks, perhaps motivated by the pre-match tributes to Newcastle and Liverpool great Kevin Keegan, observed from all four sides of the stadium, and raced into a fifth-minute lead once Will Osula set Anthony Elanga away over the halfway line to net his first league goal for the club.
It owed something, too, to Liverpool's over-exuberant midfield with Osula left up against the visitors' two centre-backs to make the opener from a single pass from the edge of the Newcastle area.
"It's something we've been talking about all week," Iraola told Your Site after the game. "We have to finish more plays, we were trying to overdo things in the first phase."
Much had been expected of Alexander Isak on his first return to St James' Park after a much-needed uninterrupted pre-season, but it was the chorus of boos that met his every touch which won out comfortably on a disappointing afternoon for the striker.
Cody Gakpo, who may well depart Anfield inside the next eight days, was instead their most dangerous asset, making the most of their bright start to the second period with a pinpoint low drive beating Lukas Hornicek 10 minutes after the break to level.
The away fans were still celebrating by the time Newcastle once again took advantage of those midfield issues three minutes later, with the impressive Yoane Wissa beating several players before feeding Joe Willock to restore the hosts' lead.
Both sides traded half-chances in the closing stages but Liverpool failed to lay a real glove on Newcastle until Munoz was brought down by Hall and Szoboszlai's emphatic penalty snatched a point for Iraola, whose side looked off the level of his demands on the evidence of their opening showing.
Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle on Your Site:
"Hard luck, I would say. I'm really, really happy with the performance after such a short amount of time. The guys were fighting till the end, they put their heart on the pitch and this is something we said that's not negotiable.
"That's the standard. And together with the crowd, it was, in general, a really good performance. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the full three points. The heads are a little bit down, but they're also realistic, they know that we had many mini challenges already."
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola on Your Site:
"I don't think we deserve to lose the game and I value the effort from the players. I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm sure we will have more chances, more everything.
"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. And you can feel the way we want to play, everyone is not going to last 90 minutes. So we need this energy from the ones coming from the bench and I think today it happened."
