Liverpool boss Arne Slot tears into Darwin Nunez’s ‘behaviour’ that he ‘cannot settle for’ after his horror miss towards Aston Villa

Arne Slot has scolded Darwin Nunez for his unacceptable behavior after missing an open goal in Liverpool‘s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday night. 

The Reds opened the door for Arsenal in the Premier League title race after dropping two points at Villa Park, with Nunez missing a late chance that could have secured the win. 

Slot publicly admonished the Uruguayan on Thursday morning and insisted that he cannot accept the way the forward reacted after missing the chance.  

‘A miss that I can accept,’ said Slot. ‘What is harder to accept, his behaviour after the chance. That miss is got too much in his head where he is the usual Darwin that works his a** off.

‘I think he was too disappointed after missing that chance’.

Following his lacklustre showing after coming off the bench and missing the opportunity, which came just minutes into his introduction, Nunez appeared to be particularly frustrated at the final whistle.

The Uruguayan endured a frustrating evening in front of goal for the travelling side

In a video taken at full-time, Liverpool’s players could be seen walking towards the travelling fans at Villa Park and applauding them.

However, the camera panned across the pitch to show the 25-year-old trudging off on his own. The caption read: ‘I can accept missing open goals but Nunez was strolling most of the time he was on. Shocking attitude’.

Another wrote: ‘He’s done. I don’t like that attitude post match at all.’

He also came in for criticism from Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, who called the effort ‘one of the worst’ misses this season. 

‘He doesn’t think about the game enough,’ Fowler said on TNT Sports. ‘If you’re struggling for confidence you’ve got to go back to basics.

‘You’ve got to get the ball, touch it, play it five yards. Play the simple things. You always need to go back to basics and do the simplicity of being a footballer.

‘He doesn’t think does he? It’s a bad miss, it’s a really bad miss – up there with one of the worst we’ve seen this year.

‘Szoboszlai maybe should have shot himself, but he’s played a great ball to him and he’s missed the target, criminally, from eight yards. That can’t be happening.’

Nunez has endured a difficult campaign for the Reds, scoring just six times across 35 appearances in all competitions.

The 25-year-old has enjoyed some memorable moments, such as when he netted two late goals at Brentford, but it is clear he is struggling for confidence.

He was linked with a big-money to the Saudi Pro League in January, with reports that Al Nassr were close to agreeing a deal in excess of £62million for him before turning their attention to Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran.