Nunez Announces His Arrival as Liverpool Claim Community Shield
Duro Ikhazuagbe
New £85million signing from Benfica, Darwin Nunez, announced his arrival at Anfield yesterday, sealing a 3-1 Community Shield victory for Liverpool against champions Manchester City.
In the thrilling season opening encounter at the King Power Stadium in Leicester instead of the traditional Wembley setting, the two sides did not hold back in a match that tends to be badged as a ‘glorified friendly’.
Reds full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the opening goal with a curling effort from the edge of the box which took a slight deflection off Nathan Ake and nestled in the far corner.
He celebrated by raising his finger to his lips in front of the City supporters, who had helped generate a thunderous atmosphere by trading jibes with their Liverpool counterparts. Remember The Reds who won The FA Cup, were pipped to the Premier League title by a single point last term after a season-long fight with City.
Man City’s star summer signing Erling Haaland showed glimpses of what he will bring by drawing a good save from Adrian, while Nunez had a one-on-one effort kept out by Ederson.
But it was another newcomer – Julian Alvarez – who scored next, staying alert after Phil Foden’s shot was saved to poke home the equaliser from close range, with the goal awarded after a lengthy VAR check.
Mohamed Salah edged Liverpool back in front by scoring from the penalty spot with eight minutes remaining after referee Craig Pawson adjudged – from looking at the pitchside monitor – that Ruben Dias had handled inside the area.
And Nunez who was brought in from Benfica to replace Sadio Mane who switched to Bayern Munich had the final say, stooping to head in from close range before wheeling off to celebrate in front of his new supporters.
Liverpool came agonisingly close to a quadruple last season as they won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, but they missed out on the league by the narrowest of margins and were defeated in the Champions League final by Real Madrid.
Just 63 days on from that loss in Paris, the Reds were back in action against the side they have formed an intense but respectful rivalry with over the past four years.
Liverpool came out flying in trademark fashion from kick-off, hassling and harrying the City backline, and Salah – fresh from signing a bumper new contract in the summer – struck the side-netting in just the third minute.
Andrew Robertson headed into the side-netting too, before fellow full-back Alexander-Arnold broke the deadlock with a curling effort, albeit via a nick off Ake’s head.
It sparked jubilant scenes in the red end of the ground, where the Liverpool fans lit flares and filled the stadium with smoke.
The scenes were similar to those at Wembley after their FA Cup triumph over Chelsea in May, but this time the Football Association said it is investigating the use of flares following the introduction of stricter measures to tackle “anti-social and criminal behaviour in football grounds”.
