Striker Darwin Nunez lost his head but fellow South American Luis Diaz ensured 10-man Liverpool did not lose their long unbeaten home record with a brilliant equaliser to secure a 1-1 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace.
Anfield is no stranger to fiery Uruguayans after witnessing the highs and lows of Luis Suarez for three-and-a-half years but the recklessness of their summer signing’s weak headbutt on Joachim Andersen beggared belief.
F365 says: Diaz will need to keep on keeping Liverpool in the title race after Nunez idiocy
Frustration had been growing having gone behind to Wilfried Zaha’s 32nd-minute goal against the run of play but the way Nunez to reacted to being provoked by the Palace centre-back was naive at best and idiotic at worst.
The fact the 23-year-old’s act of self-destruction was rescued by Diaz, who beat at least five players in shimmying his way into position to unleash a 25-yard shot past Victor Guaita, four minutes after the red card, will be of no consolation.
Nunez is currently Jurgen Klopp’s only fit striker, with Diogo Jota nursing a thigh injury and Roberto Firmino missing the game as a precaution, and his resulting three-match ban – with arch-rivals Manchester United next up in a week’s time – is likely to be costly.
Klopp’s side already trail leaders Manchester City by four points and with the margin for error in the title race so tight, they cannot afford many more nights like this.
Nunez’s arrival from Benfica for a potential club-record £85million fee was supposed to be the antidote for games like this, when teams sit deep, pack the area around their 18-yard box and look to hit on the break.
But the Uruguayan, admittedly still getting used to his new team-mates after just two competitive outings, fluffed his lines in only the ninth minute when he ballooned over at the far post after Harvey Elliott, taking the place of the injured Thiago Alcantara, danced through the defence only to see his shot blocked by Andersen.
Another missed Nunez chance book-ended the first half as he mis-hit a shot from roughly the same position and watched it bounce off the far post.
But he was not alone in squandering chances with James Milner blazing over after just 61 seconds and Mohamed Salah stabbing wide a low Trent Alexander-Arnold cross and also heading tamely into Guaita’s arms.
With Liverpool’s shot count building up – 17 alone in the first half – and their dominance of the ball established, they fell…
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