Nunez hailed as injury-time double keeps Liverpool on track
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez celebrates scoring his side's second goal.
THERE is no risk of Arne Slot getting carried away but when an out-of-form Darwin Nunez steps off the bench to seal victory in added time, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that it will take something extraordinary to derail Liverpool’s title challenge.
Thomas Frank, the Brentford manager, insisted that having also faced Arsenal and Manchester City this month, he was in no doubt that Slot’s side were a cut above their main challengers. Had Nunez not intervened so dramatically to score twice in the dying moments of the game, that view would have been more open to debate with the Premier League leaders struggling to find a view through the Brentford defence despite launching 35 attempts on goal. As it was, their tenacity was rewarded and with Arsenal drawing later in the day, their hold at the head of the table strengthened.
For Nunez, this was a personal triumph after a difficult season that had produced just two league goals before the visit to west London and seen the striker linked with a move away from Anfield this month. And for Slot this was a further illustration of his squad with two of his substitutes, Nunez and Harvey Elliott, involved in both goals, just as Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas had stepped off the bench to conjure the midweek equaliser at Nottingham Forest.
This was certainly the lift Nunez needed. The Uruguay international has found himself shifted to the fringes of Slot’s line-up and his relief was evident in his celebrations although Virgil van Dijk, the captain, admitted he intervened after the game to ensure Nunez’s focus now switches to tomorrow’s Champions League meeting with Lille.
“I said to him ‘stay calm. Tuesday we play again,’” said the defender. “What he did today is what we need him to and making an impact and being important with goals. Other than that he needs to keep working hard. As a striker, you are judged by goals. Those are the levels of a striker. Today it was important with the two goals. On to the next. And then it’s another opportunity to show himself again and be important for the team.”
This was exactly the type of game that can come to be viewed as decisive in the course of a campaign. Prospective champions make a habit of finding a way and Slot will now hope that Nunez is revived and can demonstrate a more consistent eye for goal.
“I think he’s in a good place,” added van Dijk. “He is still learning. He has the South Americans with him as well. There’s the language and stuff. But where I can, I obviously help him. He is part of the group. He is part of Liverpool. We need him at his best and scoring goals. Today it was very important.
“We should all be happy for him. Not only for himself but for all of us. I am happy for myself and the team and for everyone who came to support us today. Yes, it’s not only Brentford. It’s another Premier League game that we won. We got three points. Now we recover and focus on the Champions League.”
Had the late goals not arrived, the meeting with Lille would carry an extra edge. Slot’s side faced Brentford having won just one of their previous four games, the FA Cup tie against League Two Accrington Stanley, a dip in results that had offered hope to their rivals. Concerns they were hitting a mid-season bump in the road were dispelled though when Nunez turned home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cross in the 91st minute and then finished confidently after being picked out by Elliott two minutes later.
“I think we have been very good throughout the whole season,” said van Dijk. “If we were just looking at the last three results or something like that, then maybe we can think we have not had a great year. We have to keep working hard, like we did today, and that gives us also then the win in the end. Because we kept going, we kept resilient and the hard work we put in. It’s a very difficult place to come to. We got the win and a well-deserved win as well.”
(4-3-3): Flekken 7; Roerslev 6, Collins 8, Van den Berg 8, Lewis-Potter 6; Norgaard 7, Janelt 6 (Schade 65, 6), Yarmoliuk 6; Mbeumo 7, Wissa 6, Damsgaard 6 (Jensen 80, 6).
Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Henry, Carvalho, Mee, Konak, Maghoma, Ji-Soo.
(4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 6, Konate 8, Van Dijk 7, Tsimikas 6 (Robertson 65, 6); Gravenberch 8, Szoboszlai 7 (Elliott 80, 6), Mac Allister 6 (Jones, 80, 6); Salah 6, Diaz 6 (Nunez 65, 8), Gakpo 6 (Chiesa, 87, 6).
Subs not used: Kelleher, Endo, Quansah, Bradley.
: Andrew Madley 6
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