Darwin Nunez came off the bench to assist both of Liverpool’s goals against Fulham (Photo: Getty)
Jamie Redknapp was full of praise for Darwin Nunez for his game changing role in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final win over Fulham.
The Reds came from behind to beat the Cottagers 2-1 at Anfield on Wednesday night, in the first-leg of their semi-final tie.
Willian gave the visitors the lead in the first-half after capitalising on a Virgil van Dijk mistake, before two quick-fire goals from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo gave the home side victory.
Nunez came off the bench to replace Ryan Gravenberch in the 56th minute and assisted both Liverpool goals, giving Jurgen Klopp’s side a much needed shot of energy and creativity.
He could have scored himself late on, but Bernd Leno produced a fine save to deny the Uruguay forward.
And despite only playing 34 minutes, the 24-year-old had the highest expected goals (0.76), the most touches in the opposition box (12), completed the most dribbles (3) and had the joint most shots (4) of any Liverpool player on the pitch.
‘Darwin Nunez really gave then impetus when he came on,’ Liverpool icon Redknapp said on Sky Sports.
‘They certainly miss [Mohamed] Salah, [Dominik] Szoboszlai, Trent [Alexander-Arnold]. Their creativity. Nunez was the real difference for Liverpool.
‘He gave them energy, running down the sides, getting into good areas. That’s exactly what they needed. He gave the Fulham centre-backs so many problems. His movement was so good.
‘[For the second goal] you can see Nunez making the run. He’s frustrated he doesn’t get the first pass but now he thinks “I’m on again, can I get down the side?”.
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‘He does, takes a good first touch and plays it back into the area [for Gakpo to score].
The second leg of the tie at Craven Cottage takes place next Wednesday, but before then Liverpool will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League when they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday.
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