Darwin Nunez red card: “Lost his head”, “totally unacceptable” - pundits react to Liverpool striker’s headbutt

Liverpool are now without a win from their opening two games of the 2022/23 Premier League season but the big talking point from their latest match was the “moment of madness” that saw striker Darwin Nunez sent off.

The Uruguayan was shown a straight red card for a headbutt on Palace defender Joachim Andersen and pundits across the UK media have been reacting to the incident.

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville were amongst the first to share their opinions on Sky Sports post match analysis of the game while TalkSPORT duo Shay Given and Ally McCoist also shared their thoughts early on Tuesday morning.

Here are what some of the ex-players had to say about the incident that saw the Uruguayan forward ordered off:

“He just totally lost his head” - former Manchester City keeper feels for Liverpool attacker

TalkSPORT presenter Laura Woods was joined by former Newcastle United and Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given and Rangers legend Ally McCoist on the radio stations’ breakfast show this morning.

Given, who featured in over 20 seasons of the Premier League with several clubs, tried to break down Nunez’s reaction in the moment.

“He just totally lost his head,” said Given.

“Previous to that he missed a big chance, a one vs one situation that he totally fluffed at the Kop End.

“He’s 23 and he’s still young. It’s his home debut and it’s a massive game and the fans are expecting.

“He missed that chance, Andersen is a clever and experienced player and knows how to get inside his head and he’s just lost his head for a split second.

“It’s the right decision and he has to go off.”

Scotland icon and beloved commentator McCoist added to Given’s comments, saying: “I thought Andersen sucked him in a wee bit to be brutally honest.

“I’m in no way shape or form making any excuse, because it’s unacceptable, but I’m just trying to find a reason for it.

“He’s one of these players, you can see he is totally committed, he’s bursting to do well for the Liverpool fans and just got caught up in it.”

The incident has been described as a “moment of madness” which was the phrase used by Gary Neville in Sky Sports post match reaction.

The former Manchester United captain said: “It’s a moment of madness,

“He’ll learn a lot from it but next week’s a problem and Liverpool will miss him a lot.”

Neville’s Sky Sports partner and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher added: “I cannot believe how he thinks he is going to possibly get away with that.

“There was no other option for the referee, he could not have had a better view.

“He knows what he has done and he’l be sitting in the dressing room absolutely devastated.

“He’s let himself down but he’s also let his team down.

“If he’d been on the pitch, Liverpool possibly would have gone on to win the game.”

Liverpool’s next match sees them travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Monday, August 22 and Nunez will be suspended for the fixture.