Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for Liverpool away to Southampton tonight, and his celebration was just as ice-cold as his finish for the goal.
The Uruguayan had snatched at an early chance but made no mistake in the 24th minute when, with the aid of a deflection from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass, the ball dropped into his path one-on-one with Alex McCarthy.
The Reds striker hasn’t always been the most composed in such situations, but he kept his nerve this time around to convert the opportunity and break the deadlock at St Mary’s.
Nunez winds up Saints fans with goal celebration
As Nunez wheeled away in celebration, he put his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture towards the Southampton fans who’d been heckling him as – how should we say – an inferior version of Andy Carroll, a previous Liverpool number 9 who rocked the man bun.
Not content with that much, the Uruguay international then cupped his hand to his ear as he appeared to goad the home supporters into taunting him even more loudly.
Nunez scores just as competition for places hots up
After some poor peformances of late and a meagre goal return of three goals in 20 games this season prior to tonight, Nunez badly needed to score sooner rather than later in order to get the critics off his back.
He’ll duly be delighted not only to have found the net tonight, but to have done so with a level of composure that many pundits have accused him of lacking.
Now that Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa are back from their respective layoffs, the 25-year-old knows that competition for his starting berth in the Liverpool line-up has intensified greatly, and he made his own point to Arne Slot in the first half against Southampton.
As for the Saints fans who were goading him during the first half…it’ll take a lot more than unflattering comparisons to a former Reds striker to knock Nunez off course!
You can view Nunez’s response to the taunts from the home fans below, via @SkyFootball on X:
Darwin Núñez with a great finish to give Liverpool the lead against Southampton 🎯 pic.twitter.com/UuOy8YB2HR
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 18, 2024