THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Darwin Nunez nets four as Liverpool record victory in Leipzig

Darwin Nunez nets four as Liverpool record victory in Leipzig

Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score four times as Liverpool defeated RB Leipzig 5-0 in their latest pre-season test in Germany on Thursday evening.

The Reds took the lead with eight minutes gone at Red Bull Arena when Mohamed Salah deceived Peter Gulacsi with a first-time finish he rolled into the net from just inside the area following a lay-off by Roberto Firmino.

Nunez then came off the bench during half-time to net his first goal for the club, converting from the penalty spot after Luis Diaz had been brought down.

The No.27 had a second moments later, finishing with aplomb after Liverpool had regained possession in midfield and Trent Alexander-Arnold sent him clear inside the area.

Nunez’s hat-trick was completed with 69 minutes showing on the clock when he touched in a low cross from Harvey Elliott from close range.

His final act was to cap a fine night’s work for Jürgen Klopp’s side by sweeping in his fourth – and the Reds’ fifth – at the death following a counter-attack spearheaded by Fabio Carvalho.

'Perfect night' - Jürgen Klopp on Nunez goals and win at Leipzig

Jürgen Klopp toasted a 'perfect night' as Darwin Nunez hit four goals in Liverpool's 5-0 win at RB Leipzig.

The Reds surged to an emphatic result at Red Bull Arena on Thursday evening after Mohamed Salah opened the scoring with a composed finish on eight minutes.

Nunez entered the action at the start of the second half and netted four times before the friendly’s end – his first strikes since joining the club during the summer.

On it being a perfect night with a 5-0 win and four goals for Nunez

I would have bought it actually. It’s really nice. You see everything. First half – good moments, lesser-good moments, not enough movement, we need to get used to how hard it is to play 50, 60, 70 minutes – and in the end 90 or 120. The human body is like this, you need to get used to it again. When we struggled a little bit it was always after three minutes’ break we played football again, then a deep breather and play football again. And I wanted us to be a bit more hard with ourselves, go over that point, it’s pre-season. And move more. I think we did that second half obviously. Hendo came on, Millie – they both were lively. Hendo all of a sudden as an eight, went in behind and we created chances. Then Mo gives Darwin the penalty and Darwin, Pandora’s box was open. That’s of course a perfect night for him.

Darwin Nunez nets four as Liverpool record victory in Leipzig

On the impact the performance will have on Nunez

We always think that if you pay a lot of money then the players feel no pressure or whatever. They are all completely normal human beings and the first touch is not perfect then all of a sudden… This generation of players read social media, which is really not smart, but they do. All of a sudden you get in a rush and these kinds of things. That’s the best way obviously to stop all these discussions. He’s a different striker to what we have or what we had, but he’s a really good one.

On how much he is looking forward to the team’s training camp in Austria now

Very much. We need that time now. We are not even close to where we want to be physically. We have to get there. The weather and everything is difficult, it will be difficult in Austria as well. It’s good. We have to get through this, we have to work extremely hard and then we will be fine. I’m not sure if we will be fine against Salzburg because now we really go for it, but we will give it a try. The most important part of pre-season starts now.

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