He had only played a short cameo off the substitutes’ bench but was soon being saluted like a king from the travelling Kop. Darwin Nunez had just scored a last-gasp winning goal to put Liverpool firmly into the driving seat for a 20th English league title.
The scene we are discussing is not his magic-man antics at Brentford on Saturday – but his 99th-minute winner at Nottingham Forest last March. It propelled the Reds to four points clear atop the Premier League and felt like a season-defining strike.
Having not made the squad in the previous league game on both occasions and come into the match under scrutiny, little has changed. The only difference was the grace in which opposition boss Thomas Frank greeted the goal, in contrast to a furious episode from Forest chiefs.
But the point is that Liverpool and Nunez have been here before. They pulled clear that day on the banks of the River Trent only to eventually falter in their quest of supremacy by dropping points in six of their final 11 league fixtures.
Now is the time for the Reds to seize their opportunity and power on. A draw at Brentford would have been no disaster – especially noting Arsenal drew – but it would have twisted the narrative and their six-point lead could have easily been just two if the day played out differently.
Everyone expected Arne Slot’s team to be in a transition period this season under the new regime. Finishing in the top four felt like the realistic target in August – but now the goalposts have changed and anything but finishing as champions will be seen as a huge disappointment.
Darwin Nunez’s late double against Brentford proved Liverpool’s bench boys can help fire them to the title
Arne Slot’s men must learn from last season and use this victory as a springboard for their title charge
Harvey Elliott (background) and Federico Chiesa (left) also played a big role after coming on
There are factors in their favour this time. Arsenal are not the beast they were in the last two seasons and are struggling for that winning consistency while, more importantly, four-time reigning champions Manchester City are a shadow of their former selves and will not triumph.
That is why two draws in a row – very nearly three – was not as catastrophic as some Reds fans thought. Drop points a few games on the spin with Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City on your heels and they would have left you for dead, yet no team is as clinical this year.
This victory was engineered by Slot’s backup brigade. Nunez took the headlines but he was supplemented by fellow substitutes Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa, who both played a big role. With Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz plagued by wastefulness, others stepped up.
For Nunez and Elliott in particular, those cameos will do them the world of good. Asked by reporters what the Uruguay striker needs to do now, captain Virgil van Dijk joked: ‘Not listen to all of you guys! I’m joking.
‘But I have said to him, “Stay calm because you will play again”. What he did today is what we need him to do – to have an impact and score important, big goals. There will always be an opportunity for him to show himself again and be important for the team.’
Nunez’s future going into this match was firmly in doubt. He had scored just one goal in Liverpool’s last 15 league games and there has been talk about whether he would ever live up to his £85million price tag. These goals silence that debate for a few weeks at least.
‘As team-mates and as friends, we are over the moon for him, he deserves it,’ said Elliott, who himself has a point to prove. He is yet to play more than 16 minutes in a league match this season and his assist for Nunez’s second was his first goal involvement.
The 21-year-old spoke in pre-season about how now was the time for him to step up and prove he can be a starter for the Reds but breaking his foot in September put paid to that. Clubs have kept tabs on him over a potential summer swoop but he added: ‘Liverpool is my club.
Virgil van Dijk’s advice to Nunez is to stay calm because Liverpool will need him in big moments
Nunez, Elliott and Chiesa have had to settle for bit-part roles but were toasted in the dressing room after the win at Brentford
‘Liverpool is my team. I want to fight for my place, fight for my position in the team. I am going to do what it takes. It’s down to me to put in the effort, the hard work, the desire, to make that achievement. I am not going to give up, I am going to keep fighting.’
Both Nunez and Elliott showed what they offer for the title run-in – and both are fighting for their Liverpool lives. Chiesa, on the other hand, proved he can be trusted to change games and his direct running caused Brentford problems.
They were greeted like heroes in the away dressing room as the squad cranked up the tunes to toast to a defining win. Take each game as it comes and all that, but if you cannot celebrate victories like this, then something is wrong.
Van Dijk is in charge of queuing the ‘bangers’ on Spotify for celebratory moments like these and leads the team as head DJ. The contents of the skipper’s playlist are a closely guarded secret. What we can guess is that We Are The Champions by Queen might soon be added.
