05 October 2023 , 19:48
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Jurgen Klopp was left baffled after seeing Darwin Nunez miss an absolute sitter in Liverpool 's Europa League clash against Union Saint-Gilloise.
The Reds took on the Belgian side at Anfield on Thursday evening in their second group game. Uruguayan forward Nunez had a more-than presentable chance to give his side the lead. Mo Salah had raced down the right and managed to pick out his unmarked team-mate.
However, Nunez appeared to get his feet in a tangle and placed his right-footed effort inexplicably wide. After witnessing the miss, Klopp turned to the side in disbelief with his arms outstretched as he questioned quite how Nunez had managed to miss the target.
Former Liverpool star Steve McManaman appeared to be in agreement. Speaking on TNT Sport's coverage of the clash, he said: "That was as easy as they come. He must have taken his eye off the ball.
"Left foot, right foot, he could have put it in any way he wanted. It is an awful miss. As a forward, he will have been thinking he could get one or two goals tonight and put my numbers up. That should have been buried."
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On further analysis, he added: "It was nice and quick from Liverpool, this was where they really cut into them. You don't need to say much more. It should have been the easiest goal of the season for him."
Jurgen Klopp reacts to Darwin Nunez's shocking miss (TNT Sports/Twitter)Was Darwin Nunez's miss the worst of the season so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Nunez hasn't been quite as prolific in front of goal as many would have hoped following his big-money arrival from Portuguese side Benfica. The 24-year-old scored 26 league goals during his final season with the club.
That form convinced Liverpool to splash out around £85m on his signature. Nunez has 19 goals in 50 outings for the Reds since then. He did have the ball in the net early on in Thursday's encounter, only to be denied by the offside flag after following up Ryan Gravenberch's shot.
Nunez had another chance to score the opener later on before the half-time break against USG as he forced a save out of Anthony Moris with a powerful effort from a narrow angle. The Belgian side managed to keep their Premier League opponents at arms' length throughout the majority of the first-half and might have scored the opener had it not been for a poor miss of their own.
Gustaf Nilsson managed to connect with a brilliant cross but nodded his effort over. Liverpool eventually got their opening goal through summer signing Ryan Gravenberch. Moris failed to deal with Trent Alexander-Arnold 's effort from distance, with the Dutch midfielder following up to slam home the loose ball.