Darwin Nunez changed the course of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semifinal match against Fulham, and Jamie Redknapp was praising him profusely.
In the first leg of their semi-final match on Wednesday night at Anfield, the Reds overcame a late deficit to defeat the Cottagers 2-1.
After taking advantage of a Virgil van Dijk error to give the visitors the lead in the first half, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo scored two goals in a row to give the home team the win.
Nunez, who replaced Ryan Gravenberch off the bench in the 56th minute, helped Liverpool score twice,
providing Jurgen Klopp’s team with a much-needed boost of inventiveness and energy.
Late in the game, he had a chance to score himself, but Bernd Leno made a great stop to deny the Uruguayan striker.
The 24-year-old also had the highest predicted goals (0.76), the most touches in the opposing box (12), the most completed dribbles (3),
and the joint-highest number of shots (4) of any Liverpool player on the field despite playing just 34 minutes.
‘Darwin Nunez certainly gave then drive when he came on,’ Liverpool icon Redknapp stated on Sky Sports.
They miss Trent Alexander-Arnold, [Dominik] Szoboszlai, and [Mohamed] Salah, without a doubt.
Their originality. The actual difference maker for Liverpool was Nunez.
He energized them by sprinting down the sidelines and into favorable spots.
That’s exactly what they needed. He caused a lot of issues for the Fulham center backs. He moved with such grace.
You can see Nunez making a run for the second goal.
Thoughts of “I’m on again, can I get down the side?” cross his mind as he becomes irritated at not getting the first pass.
