Liverpool do not know when they are beaten, and the watching media hailed their incredible team spirit after their last-gasp 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
The Reds were so close to slipping up in the Premier League title battle on Saturday, with a weakened team struggling to break down Forest.
It was left to Darwin Nunez to be the hero, however, as he nodded home Alexis Mac Allister‘s cross to send the away end into raptures.
Just how pivotal this win could be remains to be seen, but it certainly felt like a significant moment in a relentless season.
Here’s how the media assessed Liverpool’s victory.
It was impossible for some not to focus on the magnitude of the win…
The Daily Mail‘s Tom Collomosse feels things could be “written in the stars” for Liverpool this season:
“Sometimes things just seem to be written in the stars. With Liverpool looking likely to drop two points and hand the initiative to Arsenal and Manchester City in the title race, up stepped Darwin Nunez.
“The Reds had never won at the home of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League era and could easily have fallen behind had Anthony Elanga taken one of two outstanding chances.
“But then in the ninth minute of stoppage time, Forest failed to clear a corner, Alexis Mac Allister crossed and Nunez – a second-half substitute – climbed highest to head home.”
[…]
“How important might this be come May?”
On X, David Lynch admitted that he had lost faith, only for Liverpool to win yet again:
“I was in the process of writing a full-time tweet about how today was just a game too far for a Liverpool side that has coped so well with injuries of late.
“But then Darwin Nunez popped up with a 99th-minute winner on his return to blow that narrative to bits.”
Ben Fisher of the Guardian thought there was an inevitability about the goal, in terms of Liverpool’s influence growing:
“It was hardly a vintage Liverpool display but there was a sense that Forest were waiting for the visitors to turn the screw.
“Omobamidele diverted a Robertson effort clear of goal after Nicolás Dominguez prevented Conor Bradley’s cross from landing at the feet of Díaz on the penalty spot.
“Then Nunez and Wataru Endo entered from the bench. Nunez stretched his legs with his first touches, haring down the left channel, but Omobamidele tracked him all the way to the goalline and later rattled a shot against the side netting.
“Nunez, though, had the final say.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson said it was the stuff of champions:
“Liverpool didn’t stop. They were not at their best today, but they made changes and looked a lot better – the credit you have to give Liverpool is they didn’t go away.
“You wonder what this will do to Forest as it will be a hammer blow, the way they have lost this game and what they put into the game.
“You talk about champions, this is what champions do. A team with a winning mentality, it was there in abundance today and this will be a huge win in Liverpool’s season.”
There was plenty of love for both Nunez and Mac Allister…
Mark Jones of the Mirror focused on Nunez, who scored one of his biggest goals yet in a Liverpool shirt:
“How big could that Nunez goal be for Liverpool in the title race? That remains to be seen, but the joy that it provoked tells its own story.
“Liverpool will now go into next weekend’s clash with Manchester City certain to be top of the table, and a win would surely make them title favourites.
“This could be a day, and a goal, they remember for decades.”
On X, the Daily Star‘s Neil Docking lauded the brilliant Mac Allister:
“Tell you what Alexis Mac Allister is something special.
“So calm under pressure always got his head up and time and time again chooses the right pass at the right time.”
Miguel Delaney of the Independent feels Nunez’s influence is going to be huge in the coming months:
“Just seconds from the end, Darwin Nunez produced one of those uproarious moments that you might usually say was a sign of where the title is going.
“The evidence of this season, however, suggests it’s going to need many more of them.
“Perhaps the greatest significance of this 99th-minute 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest, beyond the vintage late header of such a classic run-in victory, was that Jurgen Klopp’s side kept persevering despite so many absences. They have kept this form going, and still have a number of stars to come back.
“The return of a player who is definitely ascending to that kind of level for supporters was the crucial difference here.”
Finally, writing for This Is Anfield, Lynch couldn’t speak highly enough of Mac Allister:
“In the end, it was absolutely no surprise that the winning moment came courtesy of a beautifully weighted pass from Alexis Mac Allister, a man who had been by some distance Liverpool’s best performer on the day.
“The Argentine always looked to be the Reds’ biggest creative threat, a status he underlined with two wonderful dinked balls in the first half that Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz should have done more with.
“Those represented two of six chances created at the City Ground and and were part of the 57 passes completed by Mac Allister at the City Ground.
“He also combined this with five defensive actions and contested 11 duels in an all action showing that provided the platform for Liverpool to win it late on.
“It is worth remembering that Brighton earned just £35 million from the deal to bring the World Cup winner to Anfield last summer and, even more than it did at the time, that now looks like the steal of the century.”
