Liverpool and Real Madrid are currently locking horns in what has been an entertaining game of UEFA Champions League football at Anfield.
The Reds lead 2-0 thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, but both Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah have missed second-half penalties so far.
Darwin Nunez led the line for Liverpool before his substitution and unsurprisingly generated a lot of chatter with his performance against the reigning European champions.
And Paul Merson singled him out for some harsh criticism after what he did in the first half at Anfield.
Paul Merson slams Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez for going down vs Real Madrid
Nunez was in the thick of the action right from the get-go and was one of Liverpool’s livelier players.
He had a chance to score in the first half but was thwarted by Thibaut Courtois, who has made it a habit of frustrating Liverpool.
Moments after his chance, the Uruguayan was involved in a tussle with Real Madrid’s Raul Asencio as the pair were caught on camera tugging and pulling each others’ shirts.
Nunez appeared to come out second best in the incident as he fell to the ground holding his face after the Real Madrid defender threw out an arm.
Both players were booked for their actions, but Merson singled out Nunez for criticism for the manner in which he hit the ground.
“Nunez has gone down like he has been hit but he hasn’t,” said Merson live on Sky Sports.
“It’s embarrassing. He’s not been touched. Does he not know there are cameras? Embarrassing.”
Asencio threw a hand at Nunez
Both players were having a go at each other and were rightly booked for their actions.
However, after a closer look at the replays, it’s clear Asencio threw a hand at Nunez which led to him hitting the floor.
The Uruguayan didn’t really hurt himself in the incident, but lashing out in such a manner counts as violent conduct and we’ve seen players shown straight red cards for such incidents.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
