Jamie Carragher noticed something on a replay of Luis Diaz’s wonder goal that really caught his eye. The Liverpool winger saved the day.
Darwin Nunez’s red card left Liverpool in the mud against Crystal Palace on Monday evening. A goal down and a man down, it looked unlikely that they’d rescue anything from the game.
But then up stepped Luis Diaz to drag the Reds to safety. The Colombian produced a moment of absolute magic to rescue a point for Liverpool, dribbling past several players before firing into the far corner.
It was a wonder goal and one Diaz will forever have in his highlight reel. But was it even better than it first looked?
Jamie Carragher did punditry for Sky Sports after the game and was talking about Diaz’s close control. On watching it back, though, he feels the control was a level above what thought.
“There’s just something I noticed there [while watching back the replay],” said Carragher. “He is in control because he actually wants to get his shot off earlier and a defender just gets in his way. So he actually just goes again.
“Even when he’s going at real pace, he has that control, that composure not to pull the trigger too early. Wait for that extra bit of space.”
Luis Diaz scores a wonder goal
Carragher is absolutely right. Diaz is seeing things in slow motion, essentially, as he waits for Palace defenders to commit before making up his mind. He wants to get the shot off early, sees he can’t, so changes his mind in an instant to beat another player.
It’s a talent that only the very, very best players have and Diaz is one of them. The Colombian could soon be scoring 15 goals per season, says Jurgen Klopp, and that goal was evidence of it.
Pure genius right at a time when Liverpool needed it. What a player.
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