– This could be the difference when we count up in May. These are the moments, said Viaplay’s commentator Kasper Wikestad.
Only when the game clock showed 98.36 did the only score in the match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool come, a score that could prove to be absolutely decisive in the golden match in the Premier League.
The scoring came after Liverpool managed to fight their way to a corner towards the end of extra time, and then managed to get a hold of themselves around the Forest box. Alexis Mac Allister was able to put the ball into the box and there Darwin Núñez steered the ball into the goal with his head.
– When they got a corner kick, I said: “This is for the title. That’s what title teams do,” says Viaplay’s football expert Bojan Djordjic.
THE VERDICT: Núñez was the match winner for Liverpool.
The Swedish football expert was full of admiration for Mac Allister after the match.
– I will pay tribute to Mac Allister as long as I am here. Then you have to send me home to Stockholm, jokes Djordjic.
– Ten out of ten players had shot or played the ball directly in. He takes the ball, looks up and plays in perfectly. This is Mac Allister’s goal, this is his point. Even though it was Darwin Núñez who put the ball in the goal, says the Swede.
– He is the one with eyes in the back of his neck. He is the one who finds those passes, says Djordjic.
Argentinian Mac Allister, who has grown into an increasingly important role in the Liverpool team in line with injuries to key players, explains the goal himself as follows:
– At that moment I knew it was the last minute and I just had to get it in, he says to the BBC.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was naturally also very pleased.
– The goal was created by the guy who is the calmest on the whole pitch. I only saw it “live”, but I will never forget it. He was calm. He “chipped” the ball there. A super assist and a super important goal, says the German to the BBC.
CENTRAL: Mac Allister celebrates with Núñez after the goal.
Photo: Reuters
– Complete madness
Since losing to Arsenal on February 4, Liverpool have now won four games in a row in the Premier League, as well as progressing in the FA Cup and winning the League Cup.
– What an ending. They never stop, they never give up. This is what a champion team looks like. It explodes on the Liverpool bench – complete madness. There are three vital points, says England’s former national team goalkeeper Paul Robinson at the BBC.
The next league match for Liverpool is at home against Manchester City, in what is likely to be a key match in the title race. Erling Braut Haaland and City play at home against city rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
More players back
An injury-hit Liverpool had Darwin Núñez, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai back on the bench. They were also substituted in an attempt to break the deadlock, in a match where both teams had several good opportunities.
Four minutes into extra time, Liverpool came very close to scoring after a corner kick, but Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels held out with a feverish save.
Four minutes later, however, there was nothing Sels could do as Núñez headed in the game’s only goal.
It was thus an extremely important victory for Liverpool, who put pressure on their rivals before they go into action later in the round.