Why Liverpool avoided punishment for 'rule break' during Newcastle vs Liverpool

A new Premier League rule appeared to be broken by a referee on the opening weekend during Newcastle vs Liverpool but an explanation has emerged.

Despite being depleted in the summer and losing their best players and manager, Newcastle looked like they were about to get winning start at St James' Park on Sunday.

Anthony Elanga struck five minutes in, with Cody Gakpo levelling matters in the second half.

Joe Willock popped up with a stunning strike to put Newcastle in the lead again but Liverpool snatched a point in the sixth minute of stoppage time after Dominik Szoboszlai converted a late penalty.

But fans picked up on what they felt was a newly introduced rule in the Premier League not being applied in the fixture.

READ MORE: Premier League introduces major rule changes with players facing new one-minute penalty

Liverpool's 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha was replaced by summer signing Victor Munoz in the 63rd minute, while Florian Wirtz made way for Alexis Mac Allister.

However, the youngster was not in too much of a hurry to leave the pitch even with his side trailing.

In one of many additions, there is now a 10-second rule involving substitutions.

Players leaving the pitch must do so within that timeframe when substituted. If they do not do so, the player entering the pitch must wait one minute - meaning their team must play with a man less during that period.

Ngumoha took his time leaving the pitch, to the point that Gary Neville noticed on co-commentary for Sky Sports.

Neville was surprised when referee Stuart Attwell merely let Ngumoha go off and Munoz come on without a delay.

One fan on X wrote: "To the shock of no one. Rio is allowed to take more than 10 seconds to leave the field "Cant wait for that to be given against us shortly."

A second added: "Attwell allowing the RS to flagrantly break the new rule regarding substitutes & players having to leave field within 10 seconds... @PGMOL_FA it's started already."

A third commented: "So the whole you have 10 seconds to come off rule doesn't apply to Liverpool? who’d of guessed it."

However, information from Pro Ref confirms that there was no punishment because in the event of multiple subs happening, players have 10 seconds to leave the field after the final sub.

Because this was what happened on Sunday, the players did in fact leave the pitch in the necessary timeframe.

What are the new Premier League rules brought in?

The rule has been brought in, in a bid to stop time-wasting and is among a number of significant changes, which includes a five second countdown for the clear delaying of throw-ins and goal-kicks.

If the incident is a throw-in, the opposite team get the throw-in. In the event of a goalkeeper taking too long with a goal kick, a corner to the opposition is given.

Under the new directive, players who require on-field injury treatment/assessment must leave the pitch for at least one minute - an increase from the previous 30 seconds which was in place.