If it wasn’t for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s fast considering, Darwin Nunez may have landed himself in scorching water on Saturday after squaring as much as Manchester Metropolis boss Pep Guardiola. Confrontations between gamers and managers are unusual however they do occur, as Nunez proved when he furiously approached Guardiola after the ultimate whistle on the Etihad Stadium, with Klopp needing to separate the pair. This type of feisty behaviour is a part of Nunez – and it is also partly why he’s a followers’ favorite at Anfield.
The £85million striker endured a irritating afternoon in entrance of aim after squandering a number of alternatives within the 1-1 draw, with Trent Alexander-Arnold salvaging a draw after Erling Haaland’s first-half strike. And Nunez noticed the pink mist descend as he walked in direction of Guardiola, who performed down the incident after the sport.
“Nothing occurred. He’s stronger than me! There is no such thing as a drawback,” Guardiola stated, preserving his playing cards near his chest. Klopp divulged extra on what had irked Nunez, insisting the striker wasn’t conscious of their golf equipment’ rivalries. Nunez’s gesture – pointing in direction of Trent Alexander-Arnold – appeared to counsel he was taunting the Catalan boss over the equaliser.
Few would deny that it’s a basic instance of how the striker is fuelled by ardour and wears his coronary heart on his sleeve. At instances, his feelings can spiral uncontrolled, although, and Specific Sport seems at 4 different incidents the place he has come to blows…
Joachim Andersen
Thus far, Darwin Nunez solely has one pink card to his title within the Premier League and Crystal Palace defender Andersen will know he succeeded in doing his job in winding up the striker.
All through the sport, the pair engaged in a petty jabs – actually – with Andersen the instigator. Nunez ought to have recognized higher than to get entangled however the 23-year-old grew to become more and more heated with each coming collectively.
Tempers lastly boiled over when Nunez threw an elbow on the Dane at a set piece, earlier than later placing his head into the face of the Palace defender, leaving the referee no selection however to brandish a pink card. Nunez earned himself a three-game ban for violent conduct, though he has managed to remain out of bother for Liverpool since.
Antony
Issues almost got here to a head – fairly actually – when Nunez and Antony confronted one another not within the Premier League, however within the Champions League whereas enjoying for Benfica and Ajax respectively.
Jostling for the ball within the nook, Nunez squared as much as the Brazilian after the now-Manchester United winger kicked out at him close to the nook flag. In equity, Antony gave nearly as good as he received – with the pair butting heads as their team-mates sought to separate them.
Footage from the sport appeared to really present Antony was the aggressor as he aimed a headbutt at Nunez, however the winger’s act went unpunished. As a substitute, each gamers earned a yellow card for shedding their cool and that was the top of the matter.
Eljif Elmas
A little bit of tussling whereas ready for a nook was all it took for Nunez to see pink of their Champions League conflict with Napoli final season. As he was intently marked by Eljif Elmas,
At one level, he had the North Macedonia worldwide in a headlock and appeared to throw a jab into the chest of the Napoli midfielder. Whether or not it landed or not is inconclusive, however Elmas definitely felt he had been hit as he fell to the ground clutching his face.
VAR concluded Nunez solely deserved a yellow card on that event, and which may have been a fortunate escape contemplating what the footage confirmed.