Liverpool beat Derby County on penalties on Wednesday night and Darwin Nunez’s spot kick seemingly baffled pundit Stephen Warnock.
The Reds hosted Paul Warne’s side and were made to work very, very hard for their victory.
The League One side put a up a great fight at Anfield and dragged the game to penalties after a 0-0 draw in normal time.
Caoimhin Kelleher was the hero in the shootout though, saving from Conor Hourihane, Craig Forsyth and Lewis Dobbin.
Harvey Elliott stepped up to send Liverpool through but Jurgen Klopp would have loved a less stressful night.
Liverpool beat Derby County on penalties
Liverpool’s shootout didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts.
David McGoldrick fired Derby ahead before Stefan Bajcetic had his effort saved by Rams stopper Joe Wildsmith.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got Liverpool on the board but Roberto Firmino then sent a bizarre penalty over the bar.
A key moment in the shootout came when Darwin Nunez stepped up.
Nunez has earned a reputation of being a rather chaotic striker; a player who can cause mayhem but isn’t all that refined in the final third.
You can therefore forgive Liverpool fans for being a little scared when Nunez stepped up for a penalty.
It felt like we could see the sublime or the ridiculous from Nunez but he squeezed his penalty home.
Nunez started with a straight run-up before moving wide and slotting the ball towards the goalkeeper’s left-hand corner.
Wildsmith came so close to saving it that BBC pundit Stephen Warnock – who played for both Liverpool and Derby County – was shocked to see Nunez’s shot go in.
Warnock admitted that he just didn’t understand how Wildsmith didn’t make the save, but added that Nunez’s penalty was just ‘inch-perfect’.
The Uruguayan will be delighted to have scored a crucial penalty to help Liverpool go through and this can only help his ever-growing confidence at Anfield.
Some questioned Nunez in his early weeks at Liverpool but the signs are there that he can be a star.
Liverpool had missed twice before Nunez’s spot kick so sending his finish just beyond Wildsmith showed off his quality and composure in big moments.
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