Trent Alexander-Arnold Believes Darwin Nunez‘s first competitive appearance ‘must be up there’ in the pantheon of great Liverpool debut after the club’s record tally helped seal Saturday’s Community Shield win Manchester City.
The traditional curtain riser for the new season was billed as a firefight between the Premier League’s two new snipers with Erling Haaland taking on Liverpool’s £85million purchase of Benfica.
The new City recruit showed an impressive move but would have been devastated if he didn’t make it off goal after missing two sitters, the second of which left his new fans stunned when he hit the ball from 20 yards. shot the crossbar with goalkeeper Adrian to the floor and providing a less than formidable obstacle.
Nunez, meanwhile, started on the bench but caused chaos when he came into the fray when he replaced Roberto Firmino just before the hour.
The Uruguayan international was unlucky not to be able to open his account when his slick finish came in the face of Ederson, but he soon played a key role in winning the penalty from which Mohamed Salah restored the lead just 13 minutes after another debutant , Julian Alvarez, City had drawn. level.
Nunez then capped an all-action display by going home in stoppage time after Andy Robertson nodded a deep cross from Salah over the goal.
Alexander-Arnold, who opened the scoring in the first half, was delighted with Nunez’s contribution, who had put in some erratic displays earlier in the pre-season, and credited his new team-mate with making a telling impact.
When asked how good Darwin Nunez’s substitute performance was, the England international replied: ‘It must be up there.
“He won the penalty, scored a goal and looked very lively.
“He was brought in to score goals and he has proven that he can do that today.
“He is a top player, a young player who is eager to learn. He has a good relationship with the boys. He came up with a point to prove.
“Who knows what will happen in the course of the season? Our goal is to be as fit as possible to push them from the first kick.
“This was the perfect start and we hope to win trophies along the way.”
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