Rio Ngumoha earned rave reviews from Jamie Carragher for his performance on his first Premier League start for Liverpool on Sunday.
After excelling in recent cameos off the bench and when starting against Wolves in the FA Cup, the 17-year-old was entrusted with a full top-flight debut against Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon, with Arne Slot heeding the pleas of numerous journalists and pundits.
The teenager played for just over an hour before he was substituted to a standing ovation at Anfield, and he had a few moments throughout the game which generated plenty of excitement within the ground.
After curling a shot narrowly wide early in the second half, Carragher said of Ngumoha on co-commentary on Sky Sports: “It looks really difficult to stop this lad on his right foot when he comes inside because he looks so sharp.”
Following another penetrative dribble from the Liverpool winger a few minutes later, the pundit gushed: “You can’t stop that lad in a one-on-one.”
Upon bursting into the penalty area and setting up a half-chance for Florian Wirtz in the six-yard box, Carragher exclaimed: “Absolutely brilliant from Ngumoha again!”
All eyes would’ve been on the 17-year-old this afternoon after being handed a first Premier League start by Slot, and it’s fair to say that the head coach’s faith was very much justified as he delivered upon his pre-match hints of a full top-flight debut for the prodigy.
In addition to the mazy dribbles which whipped the Anfield crowd into a frenzy at times, the Liverpool winger’s underlying performance figures (as per Sofascore) made for very impressive reading.
Having played for more than an hour today, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Ngumoha were restored to the subs’ bench for the Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Galatasaray on Wednesday night.
However, in terms of an audition to start that game in midweek, the youngster certainly put his best foot forward this afternoon with yet another eye-catching display in his debut season as a first-team player.
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