Darwin Nunez was Liverpool's second-half hero in their 3-1 home win over Southampton after a first-half booking that was checked for a red
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - MARCH 08: Darwin Nunez of Liverpool celebrates scoring his side's first goal with team-mate Andy Robertson during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Southampton FC at Anfield on March 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Darwin Nunez celebrates after bringing Liverpool level in their 3-1 win at home to Southampton
(Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Arne Slot has revealed he was never tempted to withdraw Darwin Nunez at half-time in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Southampton. The Uruguayan was booked shortly before the break, with the Reds trailing 1-0, after swiping a leg at Kyle Walker-Peters.
VAR checked the on-field decision, but decided against upgrading the yellow card to a dismissal. Slot would make three substitutions at the break, including withdrawing the booked Kostas Tsimikas, but resisted the urge to replace Nunez.
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The striker went on to score the equaliser for Liverpool before winning the penalty that enabled Mohamed Salah to fire the Reds in front.
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While Slot has been prone to replace booked players in the past, when fearing the risk of a potential red card, the Liverpool head coach explained why he decided against making such a decision regarding Nunez.
“In the end I took him off because he was on yellow but I always hate the idea that if we need to score goals, to take off someone who can score a goal,” Slot said. “That’s why it wasn’t in my mind to take him off because I was already planning on after these three.
“If we don’t score a goal, Jots (Diogo Jota) needs to come in and we have to go even more offensive. With Cody (Cody Gakpo) being out, it wasn’t like we have that many attacking options left.
“So that is why I took a certain risk of keeping him on. A number nine who is on a yellow is different to Kostas. I took Kostas out for that reason, because he was on yellow.
“Second of all, of course I know Robbo (Andy Robertson) always creates something with his energy and with his mentality. Not only the team but also with the fans.
“And there is a reason why Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) is a World Cup winner. Because he always shows up when you need in terms of mentality, and that is definitely what he brought in the second half.”
Slot also praised Nunez for his work-rate, having recently called out the forward publicly for his below-par efforts off the bench against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.
“That is also the life of a number nine,” he said. “You go from missing a chance to scoring an important goal to missing a chance again.
“But today, especially in the second half. you also saw the work rate he can bring to the team. But the main thing that happened in the second half was that we started to play in a different tempo.
“Not only without the ball, but also with the ball. For the first goal, if you look at Lucho (Luis Diaz) how he takes the one v one on, I don’t think I can select a clip where that happened in the first half. Not a lot.
“For the second goal, Ryan Gravenberch pushed up all the way to the 18-yard line to win the ball that led to the foul on Darwin. In the first half, every ball that fell out, they could pick up the ball and start to play.
“The energy for the players and the fans was completely different in the second half to the first half.”
Meanwhile, Slot offered an injury update on Gakpo after the forward was absent from his matchday squad for the second game in a row after picking up a knock in training earlier in the week.
“No, no (he couldn’t have been selected) otherwise I would have taken him because this was the most important game of the week,” Slot said. “The first of three finals so if I would have been able, I would have definitely had him on the bench.
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“Unfortunately, he wasn't. The next two finals, I do hope we play better than the first one.”