Rio Ngumoha stole the show for Liverpool as they came from behind to beat Villarreal 4-3 on a hectic Champions League night at Anfield.

Ngumoha was the Reds’ best player on an evening which did not always go to plan, laying on an assist for Ronald Araujo and then Alexis Mac Allister to turn the game around.

Peter Gulacsi impressed by Cody Gakpo

Gulacsi spent six years in total at Liverpool, but never played a senior game for the Reds, and though he has lined up against them since while with RB Leipzig, coming back to Anfield will likely always be a special occasion for him.

Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the game, however, the Hungarian admitted that he and his teammates had been disappointed not to win the match after going two goals up fairly early on.

Asked about his feelings on the exciting display of Ngumoha, Gulacsi offered his praise for the youngster, before revealing that he had also been impressed by Gakpo’s efforts on the opposite wing.

“He [Ngumoha] was amazing to be honest,” he said. “We knew he’s very strong one-v-one on both sides, he can go past the defender.

“It’s not just him, on the other side Gakpo had a good game, it was not easy to defend them one-v-one, it’s just the quality of the opponent.”

Gakpo surprisingly featured for the full 90 minutes on Tuesday, claiming an assist with a nice pass for Florian Wirtz to round off the scoring in the second-half.

Ngumoha’s early substitution suggested that it will be the youngster who gets the nod against Brighton on Sunday, but while he will deservedly take the headlines for a superb performance, Gakpo’s return could be equally as crucial to Liverpool.