Newcastle United fell to a disappointing late defeat against 10-man Liverpool at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon. 

Eddie Howe's side were looking to bounce back from defeat against champions Manchester City and started well against the Merseyside outfit, with Anthony Gordon handing the hosts a first-half lead. 

When Virgil van Dijk was shown a straight red card for a last-man challenge on Alexander Isak, the points only seemed to be heading one way.

However, Jurgen Klopp's side would grow into the second half and the introduction of Darwin Nunez swung the game in the visitors' favour, as he struck twice late on to snatch all three points. 

Howe stuck with the same side that was narrowly beaten at the Etihad last time out and was rewarded with a bright start at St James' Park. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold struggled to cope with Gordon throughout and was perhaps fortunate not to see an early red card, after pulling the former Everton man down just moments after seeing yellow for throwing the ball away. 

The England international's tricky start continued on 25 minutes as he failed to control a pass from Mohamed Salah, allowing Gordon to run in on goal and slot the opening goal past Alisson.

Things went from bad to worse for the Reds when Van Dijk received his marching orders for fouling Isak when the Swedish striker was played in on goal.

The hosts created plenty of chances to extend their lead, with Miguel Almiron hitting the post after a superb solo run, while Harvey Barnes wasted a golden opportunity when he broke in behind Liverpool's backline. 

Newcastle's wastefulness was punished by two moments of real quality from Liverpool's much-maligned forward Nunez. 

The Uruguayan came off the bench with devastating effect, taking advantage of a slip by Sven Botman to smash the ball past Nick Pope for the equaliser on 81 minutes. 

Then, with just two minutes remaining, the former Benfica man collected a through ball from Salah and provided another superb finish to secure all three points for the away side, in a game that could prove vital to both teams' hopes of securing a spot in the Champions League places. 

It has been an underwhelming start from Howe's side and they face another tricky game next weekend when they travel to high-flying Brighton.