Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said his team “should have won” against Newcastle United, even though they needed a 99th-minute penalty to come away with a draw.

The Reds started a new Premier League chapter under manager Andoni Iraola, but they fell behind inside five minutes when Anthony Elanga broke through and slid the ball beyond Alisson.

It was an open, end-to-end contest at St James’ Park and neither team managed to take full control, although Liverpool got back on level terms when a speculative strike from Cody Gakpo found the far corner.

However, the visitors did not stay level for long, with Yoane Wissa feeding Joe Willock before the midfielder curled an excellent finish past Alisson to make it 2-1.

Joe Willock had looked to have scored the winner for Newcastle before Dominik Szoboszlai’s late equaliser.

And while Newcastle appeared set for an impressive three points in Matthias Jaissle’s first match in charge, a late error from Lewis Hall changed the game as he clipped Victor Munoz inside the area with almost the last action of the match.

Szoboszlai then stepped up and smashed a superb penalty into the top corner with the final kick of the game, leaving Newcastle deflated and Liverpool having snatched a draw from the brink of defeat.

“If I am honest, we should have won. But that's football,” said Szoboszlai after full-time.

“You don't win easy in the Premier League – doesn't matter who you play against. We have to be aware of that and we need to take care in the next game. We will never give up. I can guarantee you that. We have to fight every time - all day long for 90 minutes.

Szoboszlai believes Liverpool should have won despite only just managing to salvage a draw.

“Everybody who came off the bench also made an impact as well today. We need the whole squad and we need to be ready,” he added.

New Liverpool manager Iraola agreed that his side merited more, saying it was “difficult to express the feeling”.

“It's probably not the result you want when you come in before the game but we definitely deserve this point and even more,” said the Spaniard.

“The team has never given up and we've recovered one point and probably the taste is better because we score in the last minute. I think it has been a difficult game in terms of starting to lose the game with this atmosphere and I think we have done enough,” he added.

The result leaves Liverpool ninth in the league after the opening round of fixtures, with the Reds’ second game of the new season coming next week when they take on Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s early kick-off.