‘Top Quality Centre-forward Play’ – Darwin Nunez Hailed By Ex-Liverpool Striker
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Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor feels Darwin Nunez’s goal in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Southampton was ‘top quality centre-forward play’ and thinks Arne Slot may well have put an arm round his shoulder at half-time.
Liverpool were widely expected to see off a struggling Southampton side at Anfield in the Premier League, but the game did not follow the script as the Saints took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Will Smallbone.
Smallbone was the beneficiary of a mix-up between Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson and defender Virgil van Dijk, but he still needed to show composure in the box as he slotted the ball into the back of the net from an angle.
Liverpool came out in the second half determined to change things and got themselves back on level terms when Nunez was alive to a low Luis Diaz cross to poke the ball into the back of the net from close range.
The Reds built on that through two penalties, both scored by Mohamed Salah, after Smallbone bundled Nunez down in the box for the first spot-kick, while the second came after a Yukinari Sugawara hand-ball.
Nunez, who started the ball rolling on Liverpool’s comeback, put in a poor first half display, but managed to avoid being one of three changes made at the break by Slot.
Former Reds hitman Mellor thinks Slot may well have put his arm round Nunez and given him the encouragement he needed.
He stressed that Nunez showed top quality centre-forward play for the goal and needed to be alert to take advantage of Diaz’s cut-back as it could easily have been cleared by Saints.
“He’s the sort of centre-forward that needs an arm round his shoulder and maybe Arne needed to say that at half-time”, Mellor said after the game on LFC TV (5:07pm).
“You have to be switched on and on your toes to get there [to the cut-back] before it’s cleared.
“That’s top quality centre-forward play to get ahead of the defender there.”
Mellor also praised Salah for his mentality when scoring the two penalties, especially as he had to put up with being man-marked during the game by Ryan Manning.
“You have to say, Manning was almost man-marking him.
“That can be frustrating, but he didn’t let it affect him.
“The mentality for a penalty can be so important.”
Liverpool have now moved 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League table, although chasers Arsenal have two games in hand on the Reds.
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