Substitute Joe Willock scored within moments of coming off the bench, but Newcastle United were denied a winning start as Liverpool struck at the death to earn a 2-2 draw at St James' Park on the opening weekend.
The Premier League fixture marked competitive debuts for both managers, with Matthias Jaissle taking charge of the Magpies and Andoni Iraola beginning his Liverpool tenure.
Before kick-off, both clubs and the 52,630 supporters inside St James' Park joined together in sustained applause to pay a warm tribute to Kevin Keegan.
Newcastle wasted no time seizing the initiative, opening the scoring inside five minutes when Anthony Elanga raced onto a William Osula pass on the counter-attack to finish clinically.
That early blow set the tone for the afternoon, with Liverpool dominating possession and pinning the hosts back for long spells, though Newcastle threatened whenever they broke forward.
The visitors drew level ten minutes into the second half when Cody Gakpo unleashed a wonderful strike from outside the penalty box following clever interplay with Ryan Gravenberch.
Jaissle responded immediately with a double change, introducing Willock from the bench in place of Osula, and the inspired substitution paid dividends within seconds during a frantic spell.
Wissa slipped a neat delivery into the path of Willock, who kept his composure to restore Newcastle's lead and send the home crowd into raptures.
Iraola turned to his Liverpool bench in search of another response, with Lewis Koumas, Rio Ngumoha's replacement and further reinforcements arriving as the visitors laid siege to the Newcastle box.
The pressure told at the last. Deep into the 90th minute, Liverpool finally forced the ball home to level the contest and snatch a point, leaving the home side to reflect on what had slipped away in the closing seconds of a bruising afternoon.
Newcastle finished with just 40 per cent of the ball and were forced into 14 fouls and five yellow cards, while Liverpool racked up 25 attempts on goal — 15 of them blocked by a defence that held out until the very end.
