Arne Slot said he was disappointed but not as disappointed as Darwin Nunez after the Liverpool forward missed an open goal against Aston Villa.
Mohamed Salah continued his sensational form with Liverpool’s opener on 29 minutes but the visitors still found themselves 2-1 behind at the break as Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins both scored for Villa.
Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised on the hour mark before Nunez had a glorious chance to win it when Dominik Szoboszlai selflessly squared the ball and left Emiliano Martinez stranded.
Nunez won a foot race to make first contact but blazed his effort over the bar, much to the frustration of the away fans inside Villa Park.
Asked about the chance, Slot said during his post-match press conference: ‘What I saw was an unbelievable pass from Conor Bradley and what a power run from Dominik Szoboszlai, who made in my opinion the perfect choice to square it.
‘From a 1v1 with the goalkeeper he made it an open goal chance. It was not Darwin’s best leg – he’s right-footed of course – but it was still a big chance.
‘Very unlucky and I was hoping he would get another chance because a player like him probably wouldn’t miss two chances in a row and he was very close but [Emiliano] Martinez made a great sliding tackle to win the ball.
‘I think we were all disappointed but it’s normal that the player is a bit more disappointed than the rest.’
Victory for Liverpool would have sent them ten points clear of second-placed Arsenal but Slot’s side have to make do with an eight-point advantage ahead of a crucial weekend in the title race.
On Sunday Liverpool visit struggling Premier League champions Manchester City, who were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday night, losing 6-3 on aggregate to holders Real Madrid.
More to follow…
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