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Gary Neville heaped praise on two Liverpool players over separate moments during the 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.

The Reds came from behind at half-time to claim a share of the spoils at Anfield, but a combination of missed chances and an awful VAR decision led to a sense of frustration at full-time.

Nonetheless, the ex-Manchester United defender was impressed by a couple of players in red during the second half.

Following an Andy Robertson cross in the 71st minute which fizzed towards Darwin Nunez in the penalty area, Neville said on Sky Sports (10 March, 17:15): “What a ball from Robertson. Sensational cross…It’s a wonderful ball from Andy Robertson, in between centre-backs and goalkeeper, perfect for Nunez.”

A few minutes later, Luis Diaz had Liverpool fans off their seats with a scintillating solo run from one penalty box to another, which led to the co-commentator declaring (17:27, via RTK and Sky Sports live web commentary): “He should’ve scored three but he’s been absolutely amazing in the second-half, Luis Diaz. You don’t see many do that to Rodri and Kyle Walker one on one, let alone two on one…he’s been absolutely immense in this second half.”

Diaz endured a frustrating afternoon as he spurned two glorious chances to score in the second half, but his overall performance was very energetic and lively.

As per Sofascore, the Colombian won six duels, made three key passes, completed four dribbles and won six duels and two tackles.

Meanwhile, in his 30 minutes on the pitch after coming on as a substitute, Robertson misplaced only two passes, registered three key passes and delivered three accurate crosses (Sofascore).

Jurgen Klopp will be delighted with the performances of those two, and indeed with Liverpool as a whole, with the Reds outplaying Man City for almost all the second half.

Despite the sense of what could’ve been after today’s match, there was more than enough evidence from the overall display to offer plenty of encouragement for the final 10 Premier League games of our season.

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