Daniel Sturridge has hailed Rio Ngumoha’s talent as “God-given ability” after starring in Liverpool’s comeback win over Villarreal.
Ngumoha notched two brilliant assists as he spearheaded Liverpool’s recovery from two goals down, setting up Ronald Araujo for their equaliser just before half-time before Alexis Mac Allister finished from his pull-back to put the hosts in front after the break.
Becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to record a goal contribution the Champions League, Ngumoha described the performance as “up there with one of the best I’ve played” and Sturridge has lathered the 18-year-old starlet with praise.
“Rio Ngumoha was magnificent tonight,” he told Amazon Prime. “Such a threat, and he dedicated himself to his tasks. On the ball this kid has so much potential, and I say kid, but he’s a young man. He has so much quality and it’s stuff that you can’t teach to be honest.
“What he does with the ball at his feet, that is God-given ability, and his hard work on the training pitch, doing things day in and day out, and being ruthless, is what he said in his interview, and I like that. He wants to be decisive, and I love that about him.”
Fellow former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler joined in on the compliments, saying: “It wasn’t a statement performance from Liverpool but it was a statement performance from [Ngumoha].
“I think we said early in the game that Liverpool were out of sorts, not playing really well, they were sloppy and giving the ball away, but there was one player you could count on in that first half, that could make something happen, and he carried on in the second half. He was a big, big difference.
“When Florian Wirtz came on he was a big, big player [too], but for the full 70 minutes that he was on, Rio Ngumoha was outstanding.”
Mac Allister bagged a brace in Liverpool’s win but was similarly sure to give Ngumoha his flowers.
“Look around Rio, he was amazing tonight. He made the difference. He was really important and I'm glad for him,” he said.
"It's clear the quality he has. Everyone knows. It's easy to say he's a really good player but he needs to focus on other things. He worked really hard off the ball.”
Manager Andoni Iraola added: "I am really happy with Rio. He is trying to improve everything that we try to correct. He is playing a lot more on the right and he has adapted really well. He's going more inside.
“He struggled defensively in the first half. The second half was much better. He's becoming a more complete player. He's still only 18.”