Mobbed by his triumphant team-mates, serenaded by the euphoric travelling Kop and warmly embraced by his appreciative manager, this was the most dazzling of match-winning cameos — Darwin Nunez had taken Liverpool from the jaws of a damaging defeat to the ecstasy of a dramatic victory over Newcastle United.
Nunez made some important contributions during a mixed first season at Anfield, but none as eye-catching or as valuable as his heroic impact as a substitute at St James’ Park. Not even close.
With Jurgen Klopp’s side both a goal down and a man down following the dismissal of captain Virgil van Dijk, they needed a miracle during the closing stages and the most expensive signing in the club’s history stepped up and delivered.
Tired of being stuck on the fringes, Nunez took decisive action to make himself the main man. He became the first Liverpool player in the Premier League era to come off the bench and score both an equaliser and the winner in the same game.
There was real feeling behind those two lethal strikes that arrowed past Nick Pope. “He was obviously fired up,” smiled Klopp, who admitted Nunez had been hurt by being left out of the starting line-up for the opening three matches of the season.
His frustration was understandable having seen himself effectively slip to fifth in the pecking order of attackers behind Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota.
When Roberto Firmino left Liverpool this summer, Nunez jumped at the opportunity to inherit the iconic No 9 shirt.
The 24-year-old frontman, who previously wore No 27, was keen to embrace greater responsibility. He wants to be leading the line. He doesn’t want to be Klopp’s plan B.
Yet, during Liverpool’s 14-game unbeaten run dating back to early April, Nunez has started just three of them.
The issues he faced following his move from Benfica last summer for a fee potentially rising to £84million ($106m) have been well documented.
The senseless rush of blood on his home debut against Crystal Palace which resulted in a three-match ban, the injuries, the language barrier, the weight of expectation as a result of the price tag, the failings around him in a misfiring team, and the sizeable challenge of adjusting to what Klopp demanded from him tactically.
Being labelled the ‘agent of chaos’ was a back-handed compliment. He was raw and erratic. He admitted himself he needed to “calm his nerves” as too many chances went begging.
His modest tally of 15 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions in 2022-23 included nine in the Premier League, considerably below his xG (expected goals) of 14.28. For context, the xG for his clinical double against Newcastle was 0.42.
There were times last season when Klopp and Pep Lijnders, acting as the interpreter, sat him down and reassured the emotional South American that it was a long-term project and not to be too hard on himself.
Gakpo effectively became Firmino’s successor in the false nine role after slotting in seamlessly following his arrival from PSV Eindhoven in January.
The Netherlands international, who started through the middle at St James’, is much more adept at dropping deeper and helping to disrupt the opposition’s build-up, as well as linking play. That doesn’t come naturally to Nunez, who wants to operate on the shoulder of the centre-backs and burst in behind defenders.
Klopp has talked about how “counter-pressing is your ticket into this team”. Throughout pre-season, there were promising signs of Nunez being much more in tune with the players around him.
Coaching staff have been impressed by his dedication on the training field to honing his contribution to the team out of possession and he has taken on board the manager’s request to improve his English.
(Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Yes, there are rough edges that need ironing out, but Sunday provided a timely reminder of the X-factor he provides: the ruthlessness as he pounced on that error from Sven Botman to slam home the equaliser before tucking away Salah’s inviting pass deep into stoppage time.
Play to his strengths and Nunez’s pace and power are a nightmare for defenders.
“I just gave him a hug and encouraged him to go out there and fight for the team,” Klopp said.
“Darwin is not happy for not starting; that’s how it is. But after the international break, we play every three days and nobody can play all the games. We have to make sure we have different options.
“We need to create a new way to play football and Darwin can be a super part of that. His key strengths are exceptional, but we need to find stability as well. For him, everything will be fine.
“Maybe it had to be like this — if Darwin wouldn’t have been that angry and had started the game, then he wouldn’t have scored two in the last few minutes. Let’s take it like that.”
During his first season at Benfica in 2020-21, Nunez netted just 14 times in 44 games. In the following campaign, he was prolific and bagged 34 in 41 matches. The hope is that he can go to the next level for Liverpool in a similar fashion.
Talk about changing the narrative. If it wasn’t for Nunez, the fallout would have focused on that wretched spell in the first half when Anthony Gordon was gifted the opener and Van Dijk was sent off soon after.
The brilliance of Alisson and a gutsy collective show of fight kept Liverpool in contention before the Uruguayan strolled on and stunned Newcastle.
“I think in my 1,000 games as a manager I never had a game like this, that’s the truth. Super special,” said Klopp, who reiterated that he expects Salah to stay put this week despite persistent interest from Al Ittihad.
Liverpool still need to do more business of their own before Friday’s deadline. Sunday doesn’t change anything on that front, but crucially, the backdrop is one of positivity with momentum intact thanks to a smarting Nunez.
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(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
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