Liverpool hero Luis Suarez has sent a supportive message to Darwin Nunez following the Reds’ 3-0 victory over AFC Bournemouth.
The Uruguayan striker scored his first goal of the season, helping Arne Slot’s team recover from their loss to Nottingham Forest.
Despite facing criticism for his early performances under Liverpool’s new head coach, Nunez broke his goal drought with an impressive left-footed strike, sealing their win. Luis Diaz had already put the Reds in a strong position with two quick goals before the 25-year-old fired a shot into the net off the post.
Slot has remained supportive of his star player and expressed his confidence in the Uruguay forward ahead of Saturday’s match against the Cherries. The win propelled the Reds back to the top of the table, bouncing back from their defeat to Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.
However, regardless of the result, Liverpool will lose their top spot as Manchester City faces Arsenal in an early season Premier League clash. But there were silver linings for the Reds, including their $113m (£85m/€101m) forward scoring his first goal under the new head coach.
Suarez, the first Uruguayan to play for Liverpool, was quick to show his support for his compatriot. He responded with a clapping emoji to a post from the official club X account showing the forward celebrating.
Nunez was visibly moved to tears as he celebrated his first goal of the season, which came in the form of a stunning solo effort.
The striker was handed his first start of the season, replacing Diogo Jota, and Slot admitted after the match that he was forced to eat his own words about the forward.
“My first instinct when he shot was ‘why does he shoot?’,” Slot said. “I wanted to say ‘why don’t you keep on dribbling? ‘, because he made the ball free and I think the defender was on the ground. But then it was a fraction of a second later when I saw the ball went in off the post.”
“I was like ‘OK, maybe you are a better football player than I was in the past’. Good choice from him.”
