Núñez sent off as Liverpool draws 1-1 with Palace
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND » Liverpool overcame the sending-off of Darwin Núñez for a headbutt on his home debut by salvaging a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday thanks to a brilliant individual goal by Luis Díaz.
In his first competitive start for Liverpool, Núñez lost control after jostling with Joachim Andersen and thrust his head into the face of the Palace defender, earning the Uruguay striker a straight red card.
Even down to 10 men, Liverpool still managed to dominate the game at Anfield and Díaz earned his team a point by cutting in from the left, slipping between two defenders, and curling a shot into the far corner in front of the Kop.
Palace relied almost exclusively on the counterattack and it was from that means that Wilfried Zaha opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, breaking the offside trap to latch onto Eberechi Eze’s throughball and curl a finish into the far corner.
Liverpool has now drawn its first two games — Jürgen Klopp’s team was held 2-2 by Fulham in the opening weekend — and is already four points behind Manchester City and Arsenal, the early pacesetters.
Its third match will be at Old Trafford next Monday against a beleaguered Manchester United team that has lost both of its games.
And Núñez will be suspended for it.
He earned his first start after a couple of impressive, goalscoring displays off the bench in the Community Shield against Manchester City and then against Fulham, and also because Roberto Firmino was missing through injury.