Darwin Nunez saves Liverpool with a brace as the Reds defeat Newcastle 2-1 in a comeback

On Sunday at St. James’ Park, 10-man Liverpool stunned Newcastle 2-1 after coming back from a goal down thanks to two goals from substitute Darwin Nunez.

Prior to Virgil van Dijk being dismissed for striking Alexander Isak inside of 30 minutes, Anthony Gordon had put the Magpies in the lead by capitalizing on a Trent Alexander-Arnold error.

Nunez delivered two moments of skill that have been uncommon thus far in his Liverpool career to flip the game on its head, but Newcastle failed to capitalize on the man advantage and were punished.

Nunez was acquired by Liverpool for a club-record £85 million little over a year ago, but early in the season, the Uruguayan was behind Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo in the race to be Jurgen Klopp’s chosen number nine.

13 minutes from the end, Nunez was brought off the bench and made the most of his chance. He was twice let loose behind the Newcastle defense, and both times he maintained his composure to shoot low and powerfully past Nick Pope.

The win maintains Liverpool two points behind Manchester City at the top of the table and sets the tone for the new campaign after Newcastle overcame the Reds to qualify for the Champions League the previous year.

Liverpool was fortunate to not already be down a man after only six minutes.

When he tackled Gordon as the Newcastle forward tore down the left flank, Alexander-Arnold had already received a booking for flinging the ball away.

But to the surprise of the Newcastle bench and the home fans, referee John Brooks chose not to issue a second caution.

To deter Alexander-Arnold from getting into any further trouble, Klopp brought Joe Gomez out to warm up.

The Liverpool manager may have wished he had made that adjustment since Gordon only managed to score his second goal for Newcastle since moving to the club for £45 million from Everton in January as a result of Alexander-Arnold’s inability to handle Mohamed Salah’s ball.

When Brooks did issue a red card, Van Dijk’s first in his Liverpool career on minute 28, things only got worse for the Reds.

When the Liverpool captain booted through Isak on the outskirts of the area, it was considered that he had denied a clear chance to score.

Alisson Becker’s brilliant turn of Miguel Almiron’s ferociously driven volley against the crossbar was the only thing keeping Liverpool in the game before halftime.

After the interval, some mesmerizing wing play cut through the Liverpool defense, bringing Almiron even closer, but his shot rebounded off the post.

In a thrilling conclusion, Newcastle was forced to pay for failing to extend their advantage.

Nine minutes from time, Nunez sent a shot into the far corner after Sven Botman mishandled Jota’s forward play.

Despite being rumored to joining the players who were fleeing European football for Saudi Arabia, Salah had mainly remained silent throughout that week.

However, the Egyptian came through when Nunez was once again in the clear thanks to his ball three minutes into stoppage time, scoring the most significant goal of his Liverpool career so far.