Ian Wright has strongly criticized Darwin Nunez for his involvement in Liverpool’s loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool’s Quadruple Hopes Shattered at Old Trafford
Liverpool’s aspirations for a quadruple trophy win this season were dashed at Old Trafford during the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Despite leading twice, Liverpool was drawn level and ultimately experienced a devastating defeat when Amad netted a goal in the 120th minute.
Scott McTominay initiated the scoring, followed by an equalizer from Alexis Mac Allister, with Mohamed Salah quickly putting the Reds in the lead again.
However, as the match neared its conclusion with just three minutes left in regular time, Antony executed a sharp turn and struck the ball into the bottom corner.
In extra time, Liverpool regained the lead when a speculative shot from Harvey Elliott was deflected past Andre Onana.
Yet, eight minutes before extra time concluded, United managed to equalize once more.
Wright’s Critique on Nunez’s Decision Making
The equalizing goal resulted from a significant error by Nunez, who inadvertently handed possession to McTominay with a careless pass in midfield. Initially leading the line, Nunez had dropped into a deeper position just before making the costly mistake.
McTominay smoothly passed the ball to Marcus Rashford, who swiftly fired in the equaliser as the England international.
Wright’s fiery response to Nunez’s involvement in that goal was scathing, as he vehemently criticized the attacker.
He told ITV : “You have to look at Darwin Nunez there. What are you doing there? The thing is, he’s got the capability to play it to the left-back. You don’t put it back into that area. You just don’t do that.”
Klopp Proud Despite Defeat
While it could be argued that mistakes contributed to all of United’s goals, Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp expressed pride in his team. He commended them for their resilience in recovering from an early setback and lamented the missed chances that could have secured the victory.
Reflecting on the tough battle at Old Trafford, Klopp said: “Obviously today was on and above the edge, it was really tough for us with the 130 or whatever minutes. United had the clear best start, it was obvious, they scored the early goal,” he said.
“We had to organise ourselves a little bit better, we struggled with the man-marking, didn’t play enough, all these kinds of things. In the moment when we found for the first time a way to play then we get rhythm and then it looked really good.
“Then we were absolutely deserved 2-1 up. And second half was exceptional, absolutely exceptional what we played here. But we didn’t finish the game off and when you leave the door open away from home at Old Trafford, it’s clear they will get chances.
“It got really hard for us, then it was really hard for us. Then we go 3-2 up, all good. Then they score, 3-3, 4-3. Come on, easily can accept that, congratulations to United, they fought extremely hard as well. That’s how it is, you want to go to the semi-finals.”