October 26th 2023.
The Anfield crowd couldn't believe what they had just witnessed when Darwin Nunez missed an open goal from eight yards out in Liverpool's 5-1 victory over Toulouse in the Europa League. The Uruguayan had caused problems for the opposition all night and had turned a defender inside out and rounded the goalkeeper with a brilliant piece of play. But, almost impossibly, Nunez managed to slice his effort against the post with the goal gaping and immediately collapsed to his knees in disbelief.
Jurgen Klopp however, was not too worried about the miss and praised Nunez for his performance. He said, “He played incredible. Honestly, in this moment I don’t think I could care less that he hits the post in that moment because everything before was super convincing. He was absolutely clear, how he took the defender away, how he passed the goalkeeper, it was a perfect situation.”
Klopp was also full of praise for Wataru Endo, who scored his first goal for the club with a superb header. Klopp said, “I liked a lot of individual performances but I would like to mention Wataru Endo. I’m not sure if people think it’s that spectacular or whatever, but the forward passes he played tonight were absolutely incredible and how often he broke lines with one touch that was absolutely insane. And then he scores a wonderful goal, which helps each player even a more experienced player. So that’s really cool. He would have got a similar hug [as Gravenberch] had I taken him off but he had to play through.”
Klopp's words highlight the importance of the individual performances in the victory, and Ryan Gravenberch's rebound goal was a fitting end to the five-goal rout. But it was Nunez's miss that will be remembered, as his incredible play was ultimately ruined by a moment of slapstick.
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