Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has been branded "really stupid" by Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen after being sent off on his Anfield debut.
Nunez was given his marching orders shortly before the hour by referee Paul Tierney after aiming a headbutt at Andersen during the 1-1 Premier League draw on Monday.
Footage later revealed the Uruguay international had moments earlier attempted a similar motion towards his opponent having been pestered by the Palace centre-back all evening.
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Nunez became the first Liverpool player sent off during Jurgen Klopp's near seven-year tenure for violent conduct and will now miss the forthcoming games against Manchester United, Bournemouth and Newcastle United.
And Andersen said: “The whole game I sat really close to him, I annoyed him a lot and did well against him. I think that’s why he was angry with me.
“He headbutted me, the first one, at a cross, and I told him he shouldn’t do that. I was angry with him. Then he did it again which is, for me, is really stupid, so it’s a clear red card.”
Liverpool were behind to Wilfried Zaha's first-half goal against the run of play but salvaged a draw through a wonder strike from Luis Diaz.
“It was a good point,” Anderson said to Viaplay. “It’s so difficult to come to Anfield and play against this team. I’m still a little bit disappointed because it’s 1-0 and we are a man up and then they score a goal like that. Brilliant from Diaz but, to be honest, we need to close him down. He was four against one, he drew four guys so we need to close that down.
“For the rest, I think we defended like warriors. We don’t concede many chances, we fight in the box, we squeeze, we fight with everything we know.
“We wanted to play a little bit more on the ball. Especially after the red card, we didn’t do well enough on the ball, but you know how well Liverpool press, it’s so difficult. I know it’s so easy to see from the outside but on the pitch it’s not easy.”
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