Darwin Nunez had one journalist delving into the archives during Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Toulouse in the Europa League tonight.
The Uruguayan scored the Reds’ third goal at Anfield, although he’ll go to bed wondering how he didn’t end the night with two to his name.
In the 65th minute, he had the goal at his mercy after rounding opposition goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, only to somehow strike the post, but luckily the ball made its way to Ryan Gravenberch to steer it into the net.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Joe Bernstein equated it to Ronny Rosenthal’s notorious open goal miss when Liverpool lost 4-2 at Aston Villa in the first Premier League season in 1992/93 (the Israeli striker would still score in that game).
The journalist wrote: “Darwin Nunez would rather be a Premier League starter than playing for Jurgen Klopp’s Europa League side but he showed enough willingness to prove he’s no £85million prima donna and deserved his goal courtesy of an emphatic finish.
“The fact he then went on a mesmerising solo run only to muck up the finish Ronnie Rosenthal-style underlined the hit-and-miss nature of his Anfield career so far.”
That 65th-minute passage of play vividly showcases the chaotic nature of Nunez, a fantastic player and all-round nuisance for defenders who’s strangely culpable of some inexplicable misses.
There are times when he leaves us scratching our heads, if not burying them between our hands, but Liverpool fans can’t help but love him due to his effervescent heart-on-his-sleeve nature, as if even he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next.
The Uruguayan was substituted shortly after that moment, and while he clearly looked disappointed in himself as he left the pitch, his overall performance was very strong, and he’ll surely have given Jurgen Klopp food for thought when the starting XI for Sunday’s clash against Nottingham Forest is named.
Rosenthal’s Reds unfortunately came to be defined by that infamous miss 31 years ago. Thankfully, Nunez seems highly unlikely to suffer the same fate, and at least his shocker in the second half had no bearing on the overall result as LFC strolled to victory.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️