During Liverpool’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday, a moment of madness from Darwin Núñez stole all the headlines.
With his side trailing 1-0 in their opening home game of the season, the emotion of the occasion got to the Uruguayan.
Núñez appeared to be rushing everything when he received the ball and even missed a few really good chances.
Either the frustration of the crowd or the disappointment at missing these chances got to the forward’s head.
Using his physical presence to go up against the central defenders of Crystal Palace, he found himself in a few scuffles.
Personal Battle with Joachim Andersen
All throughout the first half, Danish centre back, Andersen appeared to be very physical with Núñez and try to get a rise.
The systemic mannerism employed by Andersen to frustrate Darwin Nunez into getting a red card is a testament of what the EPL is all about. Nunez had better learn from that
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— Michael Blaque (@Michaelblaque07) August 16, 2022
The first half went by without much incident other than a few comings together between the pair.
The occasion, the atmosphere and the frustration all got too much for Núñez as he received a straight red card in the 57th minute.
More antics from the Crystal Palace defender resulted in Núñez snapping and pushing his head into Andersen aggressively.
While there can be no arguments with the referee’s decision at all, it can be questioned how Andersen escaped without a yellow card before this incident.
The consequences
While it was not instantly apparent what had transpired between the pair, it was clear the right decision was made.
Joachim Andersen has said on his Instagram story that he has received 300-400 abusive messages, some of which have included death threats.
Nunez headbutted him. It was a deserved red. All there is to it. If you're sending Andersen any abuse, you need to reevaluate yourself.
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) August 16, 2022
This was down to the reactions of Liverpool captain on the night James Milner and manager Jurgen Klopp.
The former immediately separated the young striker from the referee and appeared to tell him to leave the pitch immediately.
Furthermore, the Liverpool boss also urged Núñez to accept the decision and get off the field.
With such experienced professionals reacting in this way, it was crystal clear that something had gone array.
Despite the firm reactions from the two leaders, both Milner and Klopp have stated that they must support Núñez going forward.
Klopp on Darwin Nunez: “Absolutely it was red. The boy had the wrong reaction and now he and the team suffers. Now, that said, if he’d headbutted that prick Tierney, I’d have had my top off and dived into the Kop.”
— Trev Downey (@downeytrev) August 16, 2022
The English midfielder claimed: “Obviously he’s going to be disappointed with that and it’s down to us to get round him.”
His manager also added: “Wrong reaction in the situation. Andersen wanted that, I would say, and he got it. But he made a mistake, Darwin, so of course, we will talk about it.”
While it is both upsetting and disappointing from a fan’s point of view, it is positive to see the calm reactions of the experienced men in the game.
That makes it three games at least on the sidelines for Núñez, how easy will it be for the young forward to break back into Klopp’s good books?
