Mohamed Salah equals Sir Kenny Dalglish for Liverpool goals during win over Aston Villa but Darwin Nunez’s struggles in front of goal continue

Mohamed Salah is now joint with Sir Kenny Dalglish for Liverpool goals as he helped the Reds to a 3-1 win at Aston Villa.

It was a hard-fought win for Liverpool at Villa Park, however, their victory could’ve been a whole lot easier had Darwin Nunez had his shooting boots on.

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AFP

Nunez was guilty of spurning a number of big chances in their Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City, missed four key opportunities in the match.

The first came in the opening two minutes when Andy Robertson picked out the Uruguayan with a cross from the left, only for Nunez to inexplicably dummy the ball, which was subsequently cleared.

Moments later Salah put Liverpool ahead with a simple tap-in after Trent Alexander-Arnold found Robertson with a delightful pass – the Scot duly passed to Salah with a simple ball across goal. The goal is Salah’s 172nd for Liverpool, meaning he’s now joint-seventh with Dalglish for goals in the Reds’ all-time list.

Nunez was lacking in composure, as were Aston Villa with Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkings failing to make the most of good opportunities in the first half.

Nunez then had a volley saved by Robin Olsen but the Liverpool man could’ve taken on more touches to set himself up for an easier finish.

Virgil van Dijk doubled Liverpool’s lead as he fired in a loose ball with his left peg after Villa failed to clear a corner away.

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An entertaining second half saw Salah have an effort save by Olsen, while Bailey made a complete hash of a ball pulled back to him.

But Watkins made no mistake with a header from Douglas Luiz’s cross, which he did excellently to steer past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson just shy of the hour.

Nunez had his fourth big chance of the match on 75 minutes as he was played through on goal but he dragged his shot wide with his left foot.

But Spanish midfielder Stefan Bajcetic made no mistake on 80 minutes as he rounded Olsen before firing through Tyrone Mings just moments after coming on to seal Liverpool’s win.

AFP

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