Arne Slot was left with egg on his face by celebrating as Darwin Nunez ran through on goal against Bologna, only to see the Uruguayan flagged offside.
Liverpool made a fast start against the Italian side, going 1-0 up after just 11 minutes with Alexis Mac Allister finishing off an excellent team move.
It took just four minutes for the Reds to break through the Bologna defence again as Trent Alexander-Arnold put Nunez through on goal.
The former Benfica striker made no mistake in beating Lukasz Skorupski and Slot was so confident in Nunez — who admittedly has a mixed record in front of goal — that he was celebrated before the shot was even taken.
Arne Slot left with egg on his face as Nunez is flagged offside
Slot was vindicated by a smart Nunez finish, but was still left a little embarrassed as the 25-year-old’s strike was then ruled out for offside.
“Liverpool boss Arne Slot, standing at the edge of the technical area, had his arm raised in celebration when Darwin Nunez raced through, before the striker calmly finished past Lukasz Skorupski, only for the Uruguayan to be denied by an assistant’s flag,” BBC journalist Michael Emons observed.
“That’s a goal apiece for either side ruled out for offside in a very open and entertaining opening 17 minutes.”
“An applause from Slot in his team’s direction at Nunez’s finish and the build-up, although his side were denied a second goal.”
The Merseysiders do look like they have the potential to put their Italian opponents to the sword, though very much found themselves evenly matched in the opening 45 minutes.
The lion’s share of the xG (0.99) belongs to the hosts (compared to Bologna’s 0.26) at the time of writing, as recorded by Sofascore. That said, Liverpool can count themselves fortunate to have had a great deal of help from the goalposts this evening.
Top photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images