Rio Ngumoha has reacted after making his first start in the Premier League for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday afternoon
Rio Ngumoha has spoken of his pride at making his Premier League debut for Liverpool even though he was disappointed his side couldn't hold on against Tottenham Hotspur. The 17-year-old, who impressed during the recent 3-1 FA Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, was handed his first top-flight start by Arne Slot at Anfield.
And Ngumoha and his team-mates got off to the perfect start when Dominik Szoboszlai fired the Reds ahead with a wonderful free-kick after just 18 minutes. Ngumoha was withdrawn just after the hour mark, with Hugo Ekitike coming on in his place, and a minute from time Richarlison struck to secure Spurs a huge point in their battle to avoid the drop.
And taking to social media after the game, the England youth international told supporters his side will “go again" as they continue their quest to secure Champions League football next season.
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page
He wrote: “Disappointed with the result today but happy to make my first Premier League start. We go again.”
Explaining his thinking behind handing Ngumoha his first start in the Premier League, Reds boss Slot told BBC Radio 5 Live post-match: "I have 12-13 players that are able to bring good performances.
"Rio is doing that well it makes sense to play him. It is a mix of playing the ones that are fit and using the quality that these players can bring."
Ngumoha also saw appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Chris Kavanagh in the first-half, and former Reds defender Jamie Carragher believes the correct call was made.
He said: “I don't think it's a penalty. He's almost on the way down. He just comes across, but the legs just don't clip.
"Porro has a real tug of his shirt. He (Souza) almost just brushes him around the midriff. It's definitely not a penalty."
Liverpool were booed off at full-time, and when asked about the reaction, Slot said: “I think it's understandable for fans to be frustrated because it happened already so many times that they've seen the home team not picking up the points that they're expecting to, us conceding goals in the last minute.
“Now it's up to us to bring that frustration to Wednesday and come up with a big performance. Because that we are all frustrated, that's completely clear.
“And it's now up to me and the players to take that frustration into Wednesday evening and show the fans the performance and the results they deserve, because they've been supportive throughout the whole season to us.
“Then if it happens so many times that they are frustrated in the end of a game or after the final whistle, that makes complete sense to me.”