Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez heaped praise on Reds wonderkid Rio Ngumoha following his man of the performance against Villarreal in the Champions League last night.
Liverpool made a dreadful start against the La Liga outfit at Anfield. They were 2-0 down after 29 minutes, but managed to make a swift recovery. Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo put the Reds level at the break.
Mac Allister made it 3-2 in Liverpool’s favour in the 65th minute before Florian Wirtz sealed the victory with the fourth goal. Villarreal bagged a late consolation (4-3).
Mac Allister was brilliant on the night with a brace, but it was Ngumoha, who was handed the man of the match.
Speaking after the game on Amazon Prime (via BBC Sport), Benitez said that Ngumoha was ‘ruthless’ and ‘cunning’ with his movement and believes he can be successful as a right winger after a sublime showing from the position.
He said: “I saw [Rio Ngumoha] before, and to be fair today he was much better [tonight].
“The last game that I saw him he wasn’t passing players so easily, today he was ruthless, he was cunning, and he was passing players.
“You talk about his position on the left side and the right side.
“I think on the right side he can pass players wide, and if you go wide you cannot cover, so he can make crosses, he can make passes.
“Maybe he’ll score less goals but I think he can make a difference.”
Huge talent
Ngumoha is one of the best young wingers in English football. He is predominantly a left-sided attacker, but that position has plenty of experienced competition in the form of Cody Gakpo and Bradley Barcola.
Gakpo started the campaign in flying colours with regular goal contributions before an untimely injury. Barcola has since dazzled from the role and scored a brilliant hat-trick against LASK in the Champions League.
Hence, Ngumoha has had to adapt to the right wing on many occasions this term. He had his best outing in the role yesterday. Sergi Cardona could not cope with his movement. The youngster completed a stunning 7 dribbles on the night, as per Sofascore.
Ngumoha also won 8 duels with 3 recoveries and capped his…
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