On his first Liverpool start, Darwin Nunez appeared to have a case of the Anfield jitters – and that was before the headbutt.
Liverpool had Luis Diaz to thank on Monday night, with the Colombian dancing his way past several Crystal Palace players to earn his side a hard-fought point.
But just four minutes before that piece of magic came a moment of madness from Nunez, who headbutted Joachim Andersen during a second-half altercation with the Palace defender.
It went down as the first red card for violent conduct in the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool, and the Uruguayan – who received just his second red of his career – is now set to miss the next three matches due to suspension, at Manchester United next Monday, plus Bournemouth (h) on 27 August and Newcastle (h) on 31 August. Far from ideal with Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota both absent, although the former could return in time for the United match.
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Nunez was already enduring a difficult night, missing several chances and scuffing two opportunities – one of which hit the post – as he looked to make an impression on his first start for the club.
And he certainly did that, in the end, becoming just the second Liverpool player to be sent off on his home debut in the Premier League, after Joe Cole in 2010.
“The story tonight is Nunez, not only the first headbutt but to then go again,” said Gary Neville on Sky Sports. “He’s properly gone for Anderson. There has been no history of that at Benfica, he didn’t get sent off there. That’s the stupidity tonight. It will be a steep learning curve for him.
“That’s a proper butt to the underside of the nose. I have to say, he’ll learn a lot from that. He’s not helped his team tonight, next week is an issue now.”
"I cannot believe how he thinks he's going to get away with that!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2022@Carra23 and @GNev2 take a closer look at Darwin Núñez's moment of madness that saw the Liverpool man sent off
pic.twitter.com/thQh0HwLda
While dissecting the incident, Jamie Carragher added: “There’s moments of madness, of course, but the referee is looking straight at him. I cannot believe how he thinks he will possibly get away with that.
“The referee is looking at the incident, and there was no other option. He could not have had a better view.”
Klopp could have no complaints either, telling Sky Sports: “Of course it was a red, he was provoked but that is not how he should behave.”
Asked how much Nunez let his team down, Klopp added: “He knows that now himself. I will talk to him. It makes now sense to talk now in public, it’s not the reaction you want to see.
“A centre-half in the Premier League will want to do that to him, he’s a handful. We will use it [the suspension] for physical work, not punishment, to make him stronger.”
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