Darwin Nunez marked his return from injury with a remarkable stoppage-time winner as Liverpool moved four points clear at the Premier League summit with a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
With Mohamed Salah still absent due to a hamstring issue and Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai starting among the substitutes, Liverpool were far from their free-flowing best at the City Ground on Saturday.
Indeed, it was Anthony Elanga who missed the best chance of a closely contested first half, and Forest were moments away from earning a point when Matz Selz made a crucial save five minutes into stoppage time.
However, Jurgen Klopp’s side refused to be denied, with substitute Nunez glancing Alexis Mac Allister’s cross home nine minutes into additional time, moving the Reds four points clear of Manchester City ahead of their clash with Manchester United on Sunday.
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Luis Diaz saw a low strike deflect wide off Andrew Omobamidele as Liverpool penned Forest back early on, but the hosts should have gone ahead on the break when Caoimhin Kelleher denied Elanga with a one-on-one save after 23 minutes.
Liverpool responded by going close twice themselves, Bobby Clark firing over before a heroic block from Murillo prevented Diaz from tapping home. However, the Reds failed to record a single shot on target during an underwhelming first 45 minutes.
THIS TEAM! ???? pic.twitter.com/Meu3GaoxSd
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 2, 2024
The Reds should have opened the scoring within five minutes of the restart, but Andy Robertson’s side-footed finish took a slight deflection off Omobamidele on its way wide.
Nunez entered the fray on the hour mark and fired into the side netting within four minutes of his introduction, then Elanga missed another glaring chance for Forest, side-footing wide after being picked out by Harry Toffolo.
Cody Gakpo crashed an effort into the side netting before Diaz fired wide from the edge of the area as Liverpool grew increasingly desperate in their search for a winner.
Murillo almost diverted Szoboszlai’s corner into his own net in the fifth of eight minutes of stoppage time, but Sels made a huge save to keep Forest level.
They were dealt a hammer blow four minutes later, though, with Nunez heading Mac Allister’s left-footed delivery into the bottom-left corner, provoking wild celebrations from the travelling fans behind the goal.
INCREDIBLE. pic.twitter.com/miRyMoUw1C
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 2, 2024
