Darwin Nunez was “really angry” with himself at half-time during Liverpool’s win over Ajax on Wednesday night, according to Andy Robertson.
Liverpool picked up a comfortable 3-0 win in Amsterdam to secure their place in the last-16 of the Champions League. Nunez got on the score sheet alongside Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott, but it wasn’t an entirely straightforward night for the Uruguayan striker.
Ajax started the much better side and could have easily taken the lead. Steven Berghuis struck the post and curled wide before Dusan Tadic spurned a great opening by hitting his shot at Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The away side took the lead against the run of play when Salah dinked over the onrushing goalkeeper Remko Pasveer from Jordan Henderson’s pass. And they should have gone into the half-time break 2-0 up, but Nunez hit the post with the goal gaping after being set up by Roberto Firmino. That miss sent Nunez into the dressing room furious.
“Darwin was in at half-time really angry at himself and disappointed for missing that chance,” Robertson told BT Sport. “I sat next to him in the changing room, and I don’t know if he understood a word I said, but I said, ‘I’ll put a cross on your head and you’ll score, no problem’… maybe we need to say that more often!
“Obviously he got the second goal… a three-goal cushion is always dangerous, but it’s always nice as well. Then we followed it up with a fantastic goal by Harv and then I think we were pretty much in control.
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“We started making changes, could rest a couple of people, the younger lads came on and started controlling the game. 3-0 at this place, a really tough place to come and the clean sheet is so important for us now. We’re just happy we’re through into the last 16 with a game to spare.”
Robertson did indeed put the ball onto Nunez's head in the second half, whipping in a corner which the 23-year-old headed into the bottom corner to make it 2-0. Salah then produced a lovely through-ball to allow Elliott to blast Liverpool’s third goal into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Nunez now has six goals and one assist in 13 games for Liverpool this season since joining the club from Benfica for an initial fee of £64.2million, which could reach £85m with add-ons. The young striker appears to be settling into his role at the club following a rocky start which saw him sent off for a headbutt against Crystal Palace.
Jurgen Klopp was particularly pleased with Nunez’s reaction to his first-half miss."He played a good game, played with a big heart and I like that a lot,” he told BT Sport when asked about the striker. “He’s the most angry about it (the miss) but this is the life of a striker. And then he scores the goal fighting against the world to head it. The boy played a good game.”
