Paul Scholes held his hands up to being proven wrong by one Liverpool player during the Reds’ 2-0 win at Burnley on Boxing Day.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring inside the first five minutes at Turf Moor, with the Uruguayan producing a sublime finish to end his 11-match run without a goal in style.
The former Manchester United midfielder had previously been critical of the 24-year-old’s conversion rate, but he appeared to change his tune after witnessing the striker’s clinical moment against the Clarets.
Speaking on Premier League Productions (26 December, 18:20): Scholes said of Nunez: “He had a little bit of criticism off me before the game for his finishing. I did say (this would be the type of game for him), in these types of games, he seems to come up with something – Bournemouth earlier on in the season.
“That’s a brilliant finish, nice and composed. It’s the other ones, the simple ones that he seems to miss and the difficult ones he seems to put away.”
Although Nunez’s recent barren streak had been a worry, and he’s still underperforming on his Premier League expected goals tally by 2.9 (FBref), he showed what he’s really about with that brilliantly taken finish against Burnley yesterday.
The Uruguayan mightn’t be as cold-blooded and clinical as Diogo Jota, for example, but in every match he causes chaos for opposition defenders with his energy and running, while several of the goals he has scored this term have been aesthetically superb.
Criticism of the 24-year-old within the media has been excessive, especially when considering that a £100m player in Jack Grealish – who plays for treble-winning Manchester City – hadn’t scored once all season until the start of December (Transfermarkt), yet he got a free pass from many pundits by comparison.
Nunez will revel in delivering the perfect riposte to critics such as Scholes, and the best way to quell the doubters even further is to back up his Boxing Day goal with a few more in Liverpool’s forthcoming games.
Indeed, Mo Salah’s imminent departure for the Africa Cup of Nations offers the perfect opportunity for the Uruguay striker to assume the mantle as his team’s go-to man for goals over the coming weeks.
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