Darwin Nunez might get a lot of criticism over the quality of his finishing, some of which is justified, but one thing for which nobody can fault him is the passion he shows for representing Liverpool Football Club.
The Uruguayan has been noted in the past for celebrating teammates’ goals as fervently as his own, even when forced to watch on from the substitutes’ bench, and he had to be content with coming on for the final 20 or so minutes of this evening’s win over Manchester City.
He helped the Reds to complete a statement victory over Pep Guardiola’s side at Anfield despite not registering a shot during his time on the pitch, but he made one late contribution which earned him impassioned acclaim from Virgil van Dijk and the LFC supporters in the stands.
With Liverpool leading 2-0 in stoppage time and seeing out the result, Jeremy Doku was sprinting dangerously towards the byline in the hope of creating a scoring chance for City, only to be stopped in his tracks by Nunez, who rushed towards the Belgian as if it were a life-or-death challenge that he absolutely had to win.
Upon getting to his feet, the 25-year-old roared exultantly towards the Kop and earned a congratulatory shove from Van Dijk, at which point the fans nearest the Reds duo chanted the name of our number 9 in firm approval of his intervention.
Even at that the ex-Benfica striker didn’t switch off, immediately turning his eyes back to the action as he sought to ensure that his team got over the line with a clean sheet, which they did.
Had Doku gone through to score (or set up a teammate to do likewise) in that moment, Liverpool would probably still have claimed all three points, as it came too late for City to have any hope of mounting a comeback.
Try telling that to Nunez, though, who was adamant that the Belgium winger wasn’t going to get past him. The Uruguayan’s dedication wasn’t lost on his captain or the fans in the Kop, who clearly loved the elite mentality from the 25-year-old.
It was a snippet from today’s match which explains just why the Reds dismantled last season’s Premier League champions and why they’ve now won 18 out of 20 matches under Slot to open up a nine-point lead at the top of the table.
Will the number 9 be back in the starting line-up away to Newcastle on Wednesday? It’s hard to tell, but he did his chances of a recall no harm with that stoppage time challenge on Doku.
You can check out Nunez’s last-ditch tackle on Doku below, via @drwnunez on X:
— hae (@drwnunez) December 1, 2024
The post (Video) Van Dijk and Liverpool fans absolutely loved one thing Darwin Nunez did v Man City appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
