LEICESTER, England — Darwin Núñez scored a late goal on his debut as Liverpool drew first blood in this season’s rivalry with Manchester City with a 3-1 win in Saturday’s Community Shield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring, firing Jürgen Klopp’s side ahead in the 21st minute of the 100th edition of the annual clash between league champions and FA Cup winners.
City’s new Norwegian signing Erling Haaland, brought in from Borussia Dortmund, missed two chances to mark his debut for the champions with a goal but Pep Guardiola’s side were missing their usual fluency.
It was another new striking addition who brought City level though in the 70th minute when Phil Foden’s shot was parried by Adrian and with the ball spilling loose, Argentine substitute Julian Alvarez pounced to net his first goal for the club.
The effort was initially ruled out for offside, but a VAR review overturned the decision although the technology was soon to work against City.
Referee Craig Pawson went to the monitor before ruling that City defender Ruben Dias had handled at close range from a Núñez header and Mohamed Salah drilled home the penalty to restore Liverpool’s lead in the 83rd.
Núñez then capped an impactful appearance from the bench, scoring with an angled header after Andy Robertson had nodded the ball into his path. — Reuters