Rio Ngumoha set up two at 18, and Liverpool came from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal 4-3
Villarreal led through Mikautadze and Cardona inside 29 minutes at Anfield. Mac Allister scored twice, Araujo and Wirtz once each, and Liverpool have nine points from three Champions League games.
Oct 21, 2026
For half an hour at Anfield on Tuesday night, Liverpool were bad enough that Villarreal led 2-0 and nobody could argue with it. Rio Ngumoha then took the game over. He is 18, he was one of six changes Andoni Iraola made to his team, and he set up two goals in a 4-3 win that keeps Liverpool perfect in this season’s Champions League.
Ngumoha was named Uefa’s player of the match. At 18 years and 52 days, he is also the youngest player in Liverpool’s history to provide an assist in European competition, according to Opta.
Two down inside 29 minutes
The first goal came from a Virgil van Dijk header back towards Alisson that never got there. Georges Mikautadze nipped in and scored after four minutes.
Villarreal doubled it on 29 minutes. They broke quickly, Ngumoha did not track the runner, and Sergi Cardona finished the move. Liverpool were struggling to string anything together.
The way back started with a set piece. Kostas Tsimikas swung in a corner and Alexis Mac Allister glanced it in on 36 minutes. Then, two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Ngumoha clipped a cross to the far post and Ronald Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, headed in unmarked. It was 2-2 at half-time from a position that had looked lost.
Ngumoha takes Cardona apart
Araujo did not come back out. Florian Wirtz replaced him at the interval, and Liverpool came out for the second half with far more purpose.
Most of the damage came down Liverpool’s right, where Ngumoha kept running at Cardona. On 65 minutes he went past him, held off Juan Foyth and set up Mac Allister, whose close-range finish went in off the crossbar for his second of the night. Three minutes later Wirtz took a pass from Cody Gakpo and drove a low left-footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 4-2.
Ngumoha went off on 74 minutes, with Bradley Barcola coming on, and Anfield sang his name as he left. His numbers were striking for a winger who grew up on the left and has had to learn the right this season: seven successful dribbles.
Villarreal still made it uncomfortable. Ayoze Pérez hit the post, and three minutes from time he crossed for Tani Oluwaseyi to volley in at the back post. Liverpool held on.
“Be ruthless”
“It’s up there with one of the best [games] I’ve played,” Ngumoha told Amazon Prime. “Whenever I get the ball and there’s an opportunity to go one versus one, or two versus one, I believe in myself to do it. I’ll just keep going and be ruthless.”
Iraola was happy to praise him and just as keen to slow things down. “He is only 18 and still not the full package,” the Liverpool head coach said, before adding: “There will be ups and downs in the process, but I’m happy because attitude-wise I think he’s in a great place.”
Ngumoha is still on the contract he signed in September 2025, which runs to 2028, and talks over a new deal are ongoing. Nights like this one tend to move those talks along.
Nine points, and three conceded twice running
Liverpool have won all three league-phase games and have nine points. The defending is a different matter. They have conceded three goals in each of their last two Champions League matches, the 6-3 win at LASK and now this, and won both anyway.
Villarreal stay on three points, a week after their 3-1 win over Napoli ended a four-and-a-half-year wait for a Champions League win. Iñigo Pérez’s side go to Valencia in La Liga on Saturday. Liverpool are back at Anfield on Sunday against Brighton.