The build up to Newcastle United's Premier League clash with Liverpool had been all about whether Alexander Isak would be passed fit to start. But by 9.30pm on Wednesday night, all the talk was of the Swedish striker's stunning goal in the dramatic 3-3 draw.

Isak had a night to remember after what Eddie Howe felt was his best performance of the season, scoring the opener, setting up Anthony Gordon for United's second and seeing another goal chalked off for offside. The 25-year-old striker gave the Liverpool defence a torrid time, but it was his bullet-like shot for the first goal which won praise from all quarters - including Reds' boss Arne Slot.

Excellent work from Lewis Hall and Bruno Guimaraes sent the striker through on goal, but with Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk still to beat. The Dutch defender is a cool head in these situations, but Isak created space before rifling a blistering shot past a stunned Caoimhin Kelleher in the away goal.

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It was a far cry from Newcastle's last home outing, a dismal 2-0 defeat to West Ham, and the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace which saw Isak limp off with a hip injury, but Howe was delighted to see his star man firing on all cylinders as he looks to replicate the form which saw him score 25 goals for the Magpies last term.

"I think it was Alex's best performance of the season for us," Howe said of his striker. "First of all, let's take his goal. It was a goal out of nothing for us, really, and this season we've missed those.

"Last season, he regularly scored goals that he was probably not expected to score, and those moments of magic can swing games your way, and that was a massive step towards doing that. He was elusive, difficult to mark and difficult to pick up and was popping up all over the place. He's a great dribbler, so it was great to see those qualities back in his game, and I just thought it was a top performance from him.

"It's great to have one of those moments from Alex because those moments of quality, he does possess and he's delivered them consistently for us - maybe not so much this season, those strikes from distance, but he's more than capable of doing that and that's why he can make the difference for us."

Slot had his own talisman to thank as Mo Salah inspired Liverpool to come back strongly in the second half. The Egyptian set up Curtis Jones for the equaliser, before his brace put the Reds 3-2 up after Anthony Gordon had restored United's lead. Fabian Schar's late goal earned a share of the spoils, but Slot was quick to praise Isak's goal after the game.

“To go away to Newcastle is such a difficult game to play, and they have so much quality throughout the whole squad, but especially up front as well, so that they are able to score a goal, that's not a surprise for me, especially the first one," the Liverpool boss said.

“The first one, phwoar, what a finish what was. Ours was a great finish as well, but the shot from Isak, I don’t even know if Caoimh saw that ball, as hard as it was.”

United and Isak now prepare for a difficult Premier League away day at Brentford on Saturday, before hosting Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester City on Saturday, December 14.