You read the title you know what’s about to go down. After going down to 10 men, being without center back pairing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk and a calamity at the back via vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold, everyone thought Liverpool was down for the count against Newcastle United.
Except Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his men.
Although Liverpool were given a boost last week with the announcement that midfielder Alexis Mac Allister’s red card would be overturned, it seemed as though the Reds could not catch a break.
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle, former Liverpool academy player and Evertonian, opened the scoring off of an Alexander-Arnold mistake in the 25th minute. After failing to control a pass from Mohamed Salah, Alexander-Arnold allowed Gordon to get in behind and calmly finish past Alisson to give the Magpies a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes later Liverpool captain Van Dijk was sent off for his challenge on Newcastle forward Alexander Isak. From that moment on Newcaslte were in the driver’s seat. Or at least they were supposed to be.
While Newcastle did create some quality chances like Miguel Almiron’s rocket at Alisson’s goal, they failed to take advantage of Liverpool’s vulnerability.
This game realistically should have ended with three points going to Newcastle, but they failed to execute at home against a distraught and down bad (for lack of better words) Liverpool.
Newcastle held their 1-0 lead for a majority of the game and looked set to defeat the mighty reds until a certain Darwin Núñez stepped onto the pitch in the 77th minute. Nunez is yet to start a match for Liverpool this season and this was an opportunity for the Uruguayan to make a case as to why he should be in the starting 11.
Just three minutes into his cameo Núñez was able to get in behind the Newcastle defense thanks to a Sven Botman miscue and smash one into the bottom left corner. The more I watch the finish the more I can’t believe how sweet he hit it. That’s pure power and precision no goalkeeper is getting a hand to that.
Now on level terms, most teams in the circumstances of Liverpool would settle for a draw. They are down to 10 men, their captain isn’t on the pitch and the team is very much still figuring out how they want to play given so many fresh faces.
But Liverpool isn’t like most teams. Liverpool fights until the very last second of each game. Why do you think they’re referred to as mentality monsters? Come on now.
In stoppage time it was that man Darwizzy again with a similar finish after a beautifully weighted ball by Salah played him in behind. Núñez was able to dust Dan Burn with his pace and tucked the ball perfectly into the side netting to secure all three points for Liverpool.
What a game for Liverpool and what a moment for Núñez. Last season he did well in my opinion having bagged 15 goals for the Reds in all competitions. He’s now been coming off of the bench this season and made the absolute most of his opportunity in this game which will be a huge confidence boost going forward.
Núñez has such great qualities that are admired by fans and Klopp alike which is why the entirety of LFC fans back him so much. He’s got blistering pace, his finishing abilities are unreal, he knows how to time his runs and position himself to get in front of goal and you never know what he’s going to do next.
While he struggled a bit with composure last season, there were flashes of what he could become and this game was certainly a breakout moment for Núñez. I’m so confident he will build off of this performance and hopefully he’ll find consistent goal scoring form.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Darwizzy is SO BACK!
Photo Credit: Courtesy of @darwinn99
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