After 70 minutes of standing firm in the face of Storm Ciaran, it was Darwin Nunez who eventually blew away Liverpool supporters at the Vitality on Wednesday night.
The ironic cheers from the home fans that greeted the Reds striker’s imperfect first touch were quickly drowned out by the genuine ones of the 1,300 in the away end on the night as Nunez shrugged off the mocking by skipping past Chris Mepham before planting arguably his best Liverpool goal to date past Andrei Radu in stunning style
“It was an amazing goal – cutting inside, top corner, fantastic,” was Cody Gakpo’s assessment, while Jurgen Klopp remarked: “Darwin showed his class and put the game pretty much to bed for us. It was an unbelievable goal
It was enough to secure a hard-fought 2-1 vic
It also continued the general upturn in fortunes that Nunez has experienced since that confidence-boosting shot in the arm that came via his late double in the win over Newcastle in August. Now up to seven goals in all competitions, he is a vital part of a devastating set of attacking options that have already plundered 30 between them this term.
It’s quite the vast array of firepower for the Liverpool manager and Nunez is starting to become the centrepiece of it all. It’s now three goals in as many appearances for the Uruguay international and four in five if we’re counting his match-winning exploits for Marcelo Bielsa’s side against Brazil during the international break.
While the rough edges, loose touches – as evidenced by his initial attempt to control Trent Alexander-Arnold’s wrapped pass for his goal – and, it has to be stressed, the occasional glaring miss all remain in clear view, there can be little doubt that Nunez is starting to turn vast potential in something more tangible for Liverpool.
Now up to 22 goals for the Reds since his initial £64m move from Benfica in the summer of 2022, the fact the No.9 has started just 32 games in that time only accentuates that record. Nunez’s poacher’s finish in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest means he is now contributing a goal or an assist every 63 minutes this season, a statistic that is the best in the Premier League for anyone with five starts or more.
Open those parameters up to include all competitions this term and that figure stands at a goal contribution every 56 minutes. The numbers are generally improving by the week and his adaptation both on the training pitches and in the classroom, where he is taking English lessons a couple of times a week, is starting to bear real fruit.
