Luis Díaz wonder goal rescues 10-men Liverpool in 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace as provoked Núñez sees red..

2022-08-16 22:26

Luis Díaz wonder goal rescues 10-men Liverpool in 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace as provoked Núñez sees red..

Darwin Núñez (middle) reacts to referee Paul Tierney (right) aftyer being shown a straight red card for a headbutt on Joachim Andersen (not seen in photo) during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace on August 15, 2022 in Anfield,  Liverpool, England.





LIVERPOOL - Liverpool went through a dramatic night as they had to fight back to a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace with 10-man in a hot-tempered clash.

 

Jürgen Klopp's men were seemingly headed for defeat after Wilfried Zaha's first-half shock opener, made worse by the dismissal of new club record signing Darwin Núñez just before the hour.

 

Despite that, the Reds’ Colombian hotshot Luis Díaz scored a stunner after a bit of superb individual effort to get the Merseyside giants back on level terms.

 

Liverpool fought even harder after the equalizer to find a winner but to no avail.

 

Liverpool actually started brightly and were close to finding an early opener, with Núñez mishitting a volley at the far post, likewise Mohamed Salah’s side-footed attempt whizzed just wide of the near post from Trent Alexander-Arnold's pull back.

 

Palace surprised everyone by taking the lead first in the 33rd minute after absorbing much of the hosts’ pressure when an eagle-eyed Eberechi Eze who got away from Fabinho, played Zaha through in on goal, with the Ivory Coast international placing his shot past Alisson into the bottom-right corner.

 

Liverpool thought they were level just before the break as Harvey Elliott's pass over the top found Núñez down the left side of the penalty area, unfortunately his deflected shot cruelly came back off the post.

 

Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool when Núñez reacted to being shoved by Joachim Andersen by pushing his head into the Dane just like France and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane did in the 2006 World Cup Final when provoked by Italy’s Marco Materazzi, leaving referee Paul Tierney having no choice but to immediately brandish a red card for the Uruguayan, who in fairness had been annoyed by Andersen again and again.

 

As soon as Liverpool were reduced to 10-man however, the Anfield atmosphere soon dramatically improved further, culminated by Díaz’s powerful shot from just outside the box past Vicente Guaita's despairing dive to his left who also dazzled past five helpless Eagle players on-route.

 

The hosts tried to find a winner despite being reduced to a man less, though Palace could also have won it when Zaha’s shot at the far post struck the woodwork, in the end both were forced to settle for a point.

 

The result no doubt represents another early season blow to Liverpool's hopes of running defending champions Manchester City close again in the title race, having already four points behind their rivals, although Klopp may still feel satisfied with the hard earned point in the circumstances as with their opening draw against Fulham.