Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez was shown a straight red card after a moment of madness during Monday evening’s clash with Crystal Palace under the lights at Anfield. The visitors took a first-half lead through Wilfried Zaha, who finished coolly past Alisson Becker against the run of play to stun the Reds on their own patch.
Tensions began to grow in the Liverpool camp as a result of Zaha’s opener and Nunez, who joined the Merseyside giants for a club-record fee earlier this summer, was simply unable to control his frustrations as the clock ticked on. A brief altercation with Palace defender Joachim Andersen ended with Nunez headbutting the 26-year-old, leaving referee Paul Tierney with no choice but to brandish his red card and send the Liverpool man for an early bath.
The incident capped off a disappointing night for Nunez, who shone against Fulham last weekend but was unable to gain a foothold on proceedings for the visit of Palace. He was gifted a golden chance to score when he was found by Mohamed Salah’s inch-perfect cross after just nine minutes but failed to make a solid connection with the ball from close range.
Nunez went on to have a fairly quiet game at the top of the pitch, with his best chance arriving just before half-time as he miskicked once again from inside the six-yard box. The Uruguayan marksman will now be facing a three-match ban due to his inability to keep a lid on things against Palace, a game in which he became the first Liverpool player to receive a red card in a debut Anfield apperance since 2010.
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Jurgen Klopp will be desperately hoping that Nunez is clever enough to learn from his mistake as he continues to adapt to life in the Premier League following his big-money move from Benfica at the start of the summer transfer window. The Liverpool boss has already waxed lyrical over the 23-year-old, who has established himself as one of the best young strikers in Europe over the last few seasons.
“Everybody can now see he’s a proper striker, so good for us and good for him,” Klopp told Sky Sports earlier this week. “He’s a handful and is a different type to what we had.
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“He’s very lively and very energetic. Physically he’s really strong and technically he’s really good, that obviously goes together with being more settled and confident and more secure in yourself in a new environment.
“You can’t say: ‘Come on, you have to give me 100 per cent immediately’. You have to develop it and that’s what we’re doing at the moment and in a good way.”
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