‘That was so bad’: Sky pundit stunned by £140k-a-week Liverpool player v USG

Add as preferred source on Google

Sky Sports pundit Jay Bothroyd criticised Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez for his first-half miss in the Reds’ Europa League outing on Thursday.

Liverpool hosted Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield and took the lead in the 44th minute through Reds summer signing Ryan Gravenberch.

Then, Liverpool forward Diogo Jota made sure of the victory with a clinical effort in second-half injury time.

Earlier on in the game, Nunez spurned a golden chance to open the scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s charges.

In the 17th minute, Mohamed Salah set up his attacking teammate for a seemingly straightforward goal in the six-yard box.

However, Nunez ended up firing his effort wide, despite being a few yards out and the keeper out of position.

“That was so bad,” Bothroyd said on Sky Sports News, via the Sky Sports website.

“Salah’s squared it, it’s an open goal and Nunez has dragged it way wide.

“I can only assume he’s taken his eye off the ball.”

Our view

Obviously you’ll struggle to find many strikers, even at the highest level, that don’t miss the odd gilt-edged opportunity from time to time.

However, Nunez received a fair bit of criticism last season for not meeting expectations and, though he’s doing better this term, that sort of mistake won’t help.

The £140,000-a-week forward works hard, is capable of great goals, and he did test the USG goalkeeper.

However, he really needs to be putting away those routine chances, otherwise questions will continue to be asked.

In the end, it didn’t cost Liverpool, who won 2-0, but still, compare Jota’s clinical finish late on to Nunez’s miss.