Johannesburg - While the headbutt which saw Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez sent off on Monday evening grabbed headlines as the offence was clear-cut and perfectly handled by match officials, it was Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen’s cunning play which should be applauded.
Though the English Premier League encounter, which ended 1-1, saw Liverpool equalise shortly after the red card, Danish centre-back Anderson’s tactic of provoking Nunez for most of the first hour worked like a charm. It also exposed the Uruguayan Nunez in his Anfield debut as his actions cost his team.
It started out with some soft pushes and jersey tugging, but as the match wore on the clashes between the two players became more physical. In fact, right before the headbutt which made contact with Andersen’s chin - Nunez backed into the defender and attempted a more subtle, even nonchalant, backwards headbutt which didn’t land.
Andersen reacted by shouting at Nunez as the ball went out, before a final push on the Liverpool player’s shoulder proved to be the final straw.
At 23, Nunez would do well to analyse just how he was ‘played’ by the superior tactics of Andersen and adopt a calmer, more mature attitude in future for Liverpool.
No doubt other teams will have noted how susceptible Nunez is, and will employ a similar approach which will make it even more difficult for the new Liverpool signing to keep his cool.
Otherwise, he will risk becoming a target much like countryman and former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. Though there was more than one incident of foul play involving the forward, Suarez bit Chelsea player Branislav Ivanović in 2013, and was handed a 10-match ban for his action which greatly tarnished his reputation.
Suarez’s time at Liverpool also came to an end the next year, therefore fans of the Reds will hope Nunez heeds this warning.