Premier League
Arne Slot Shares Darwin Nunez’s Reaction To Costly Miss Against Aston Villa
Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted Darwin Nunez was left “down and disappointed” after missing a glorious chance to seal victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday.
After Trent Alexander-Arnold’s stunning second-half equalizer, Darwin Núñez found himself with what was essentially an open goal just 20 minutes from time, following a perfectly squared ball from Dominik Szoboszlai.
However, with Axel Disasi closing in, the Uruguayan international could only lift his shot over the crossbar, missing a golden opportunity. As a result, Liverpool was left to settle for a frustrating 2-2 draw.
Nunez was already under immense pressure for his inconsistent return in front of goal, but audible fan frustration after Wednesday’s miss clearly made an impact on the striker.
“I saw an unbelievable pass from Conor Bradley, a powerful run from Dominik Szoboszlai, who made in my opinion the perfect choice to square because he made it an open-goal chance and then Darwin, it was not the best, he’s right-footed, of course, but it’s still a big chance,” Slot reflected on the move.
“I was hoping he would get another chance. We were all disappointed, but normally, a player like this is a bit more disappointed. There is one player in the dressing room who feels quite down. You know who it is.”
Liverpool currently holds an eight-point advantage over Arsenal in the Premier League title race, having played one match more than the Gunners.
However, they have managed to secure victory in just one of their last four matches across all competitions.
Quizzed on whether his side had fallen into a dip ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester City, Slot insisted, “I don’t feel like that at all. If you go away to Villa, that’s always a difficult fixture.
At the start of the season, you know, ‘Villa away, that’s a difficult one; City away, that’s a difficult one.’
“So, performance-wise, not a dip at all today, in my opinion, but you might disagree.
“What we must not do and we’ve done a bit too often now, is we don’t get what we deserve. If you look at all the chances and put them in a row, from us and from them, I think it’s clear which team should have won.
“We must not make a habit out of that because it’s happened a bit too much now. But still, we are eight points clear of Arsenal, who have a game in hand.”
