Núñez v Haaland- Liverpool beat Man City in battle of the strikers with Community Shield win

Klopp beats Pep 

In a match that tends to offer little more than a glamorised friendly and a high-profile preview to the Premier League season, Liverpool and Manchester City took to the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the English Community Shield to instead showcase their new strikers. Undoubtedly, fans of the Anfield side will point to their 3-1 victory as a clear sign of intent from Jürgen Klopp’s side ahead of their attempts to reclaim the English league title. However, most spectators would have taken in the 90-minute event with more intrigue over the two No.9s at either end of the pitch. 

Man City kicked off the summer transfer window in spectacular fashion by beating the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and even Manchester United to the signing of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland. Although the Norway international only cost the Etihad side €60 million, he was undoubtedly one of the most sought after players in European football and a transfer that delighted fans of Pep Guardiola’s team. Not to be outdone by their domestic rivals in the transfer market, Liverpool splashed the cash on their own No.9. With Sadio Mané all but confirmed as a Bayern signing, the Anfield side opted to spend €75m on Benfica striker Darwin Núñez. England’s two biggest clubs now had towering strikers to lead their attacking lines. So which club signed the better striker? 

Núñez opens account for Liverpool – Haaland struggles to make impact 

Although Haaland had a clear advantage in this showdown between the two strikers, by starting for Man City while his counterpart was benched by Klopp, the former Dortmund star struggled to live up to the hype in his first competitive game for his new club. Aside from an opportunity to score in 34th minute, the Norway striker struggled to touch the ball, never mind impacting the game over the course of the first half and went into the break with very little to show. 

Then came the Darwin show. Subbed on just before the hour mark in place of Roberto Firmino, Núñez had an almost instant impact when he ran through on goal in the 64th minute and managed to beat Ederson to the ball, forcing the Man City keeper to concede a penalty. The play was pulled back by an offside call, but that hardly discouraged the new striker. The towering Liverpool player would make his first serious contribution in the 80th minute, when his attempt to head the ball into the back of the net bounced off the hand of Rúben Dias, leading to a penalty that Mohamed Salah converted. Then, with a win all but secured, the striker latched on to a low cross in the dying moments of the game to power home a diving header. A goal to secure an important win for Liverpool and to open his account for the Anfield side. 

Liverpool have won the Community Shield after beating Manchester City 3-1 pic.twitter.com/eOpoCdXYin

— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) July 30, 2022

Haaland, who had spent much of the second half hopelessly isolated in the Liverpool box, did have a late chance to show his worth when a Phil Foden shot rebounded directly in front of him in the final moments of the game. However, in a moment that perhaps hinted at the striker’s lack of match fitness, Haaland mishit the shot and watched it smack off the crossbar and over an open goal. 

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