ARNE SLOT saluted his controversial hero Darwin Nunez — as Liverpool stormed SIXTEEN points clear at the top of the Prem.
The pair had a bitter fallout last month when Kop boss Slot accused the £64million striker of a lazy attitude following his horror open-goal miss against Aston Villa.
GettyDarwin Nunez scored and won a penalty versus Southampton[/caption]
Nunez was perhaps fortunate not to be red carded for wild lunge on Kyle Walker-PetersSky Sports
RexVAR decided not to give him a red card[/caption]
But after Nunez escaped a red card for kicking Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters, he turned the game in four second-half minutes by levelling and winning a penalty from which Mo Salah put them ahead.
And Slot declared: “In the second-half, he showed the workrate that he can bring to the team.”
The Dutch boss wildly celebrated in the stands amid his two-match ban for an X-rated rant at ref Michael Oliver as his Reds profited from TWO penalty awards.
First, rookie ref Lewis Smith adjudged Saints’ scorer Will Smallbone had fouled Nunez, then VAR Matt Donohue ruled Yukinari Sugawara handled.
But SunSport’s ex-Prem ref Mark Halsey insisted Nunez was lucky not to be sent off for scything down Walker-Peters.
VAR did look at the incident – and backed Smith’s decision to only give him a yellow card.
Yet Halsey said: “Nunez deliberately kicked an opponent when there was no chance of getting the ball. It was violent conduct.
“On another day, with another referee, it would have been a red.”
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BBC pundit Chris Sutton added: “It was such a reckless, daft challenge. Liverpool were lucky to have 11 on the pitch.”
Salah’s two pens took his Liverpool goals tally to 243 — and he sits third in their all-time scoring list behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285).
But superstar Salah revealed Slot got the hairdryer out at half-time.
The Egyptian said: “It was a bit of frustration. His head was going for us. We were sloppy and slow in the first half. I don’t think we played well.
“But if you want to win the title, you have to win games like that.”
Slot made a triple half-time substitution to inspire their comeback — bringing on Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson.
GettyArne Slot praised Nunez’s workrate after he changed the game[/caption]
Nunez missed an open goal against Villa last month and was slammed by Slot for his attitude
The Reds chief said: “I had to make hard calls to create a certain anger with the players.
“Our energy levels were far, far, far too low.
“The three who came on did really well. But I saw a different attitude from the other eight, too.”
Liverpool are 16 points clear of second-placed Arsenal, who have two games in hand and visit Manchester United.
But Southampton boss Ivan Juric was fuming over both penalty decisions.
The Croat blasted: “The first, contact is almost nothing. This just cannot be a penalty — ever.
“I’m sorry it happened because then it was 1-1 and it changed the match.
“The second one, maybe it was a handball, but he was pushed. My guys fought until the end.”
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