Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez continues to deliver for the Reds as he bagged a brace in Thursday night’s Europa League trip to Sparta Prague.
The 24-year-old Liverpool ace is going through a real purple patch at present. He has scored in his last four games in a row and is now on 16 goals for the season.
On Thursday night, Nunez scored Liverpool’s second and third goals after Alexis Mac Allister had opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
The Uruguay international let rip with a long-range effort on 25 minutes to double the Reds’ lead in what was Liverpool’s 1000th goal under Jurgen Klopp.
Nunez then added a second, a fierce effort from the edge of the box, in first-half stoppage time to put the game virtually beyond Sparta’s reach.
Bothroyd, covering the game on Sky Sports News, praised the £140,000-a-week star at the break, giving credit where credit’s due.
“Nunez looked sharp,” he said. “I’ve been a bit harsh on Nunez [before]… but his runs have been good.”
Darwin Nunez going from strength to strength at Liverpool
Nunez’s efforts gave Klopp the luxury of taking him off early on in the first half, to rest him ahead of the Manchester City clash.
It’s great to see the former Benfica man finally firing on all cylinders after such a tricky maiden season at Anfield in which he needed to find his feet.
It just goes to show that players sometimes need to acclimatise to a new club and a new league. Some hit the ground running, but others need more time before eventually coming good.
Nobody can doubt that Nunez has finally found that cutting edge, turning him from a great player to a world-class one. Liverpool can go very far this season now Klopp has unlocked his potential.