Arne Slot praises Liverpool star who helped spark Darwin Nunez heroics: 'Don't forget him' | OneFootball

Uruguayan striker would not have struck his dramatic stoppage-time brace were it not for the impact of a fellow substitute

Arne Slot was full of praise for Darwin Nunez after his dramatic late brace for Liverpool against Brentford, but also singled out Harvey Elliott’s important contributions off the bench.

However, substitute Nunez netted twice in the space of two minutes in second-half stoppage time to settle a thrilling, end-to-end encounter that saw Liverpool open up a seven-point gap before the Gunners took to the pitch in the evening kick-off.

It was a firm riposte to his critics from the much-maligned Uruguayan striker, who has struggled for both regular starts and goals this season but whom manager Slot insisted at his pre-match press conference on Friday was not suffering from a lack of self-confidence.

“[A reporter] asked me similar things before the game about Darwin and I didn't agree then that he's not having a good season,” the Dutchman said after Nunez’s last-gasp heroics in west London. “I think he's having a good season, where he scores goals, he works very hard for the team, he assists.

“But he's in competition with a lot of good players, so that's why he's not every single game on the pitch. But I'm very happy with him – not only because he scored today two goals but that, of course, helps – but I'm very happy with the other performances he put in for us as well.”

However, Slot was eager not to forget the important role played by Nunez’s fellow substitute Elliott against Brentford as he was involved in the build-up to the first goal and registered an assist for the second in an extremely bright cameo having replaced Dominik Szoboszlai 10 minutes from time.

Asked about the 21-year-old’s impact, Slot said: “I was [delighted by his performance when he came on] and I'm happy we give you a chance to ask another question!

“All the other interviews, there was a lot of focus on Darwin because he scored two goals and every time I said, 'Yeah, but don't forget Harvey – he had a big impact on both goals as well.'

“It's so nice for me, for us as a team, that I have players that can impact the game on the bench as well. This happened at [Nottingham] Forest with [Diogo] Jota and Kostas [Tsimikas] and today with Harvey and with Darwin.

“If you only focus on results again, if you also focus on performance – which I do – I also liked [Andy] Robertson and Curtis [Jones] when they came in and Federico [Chiesa] was only [on] for five minutes, so you can't say a lot about that.

“But it's nice to have so many opportunities on the bench, that's why they have to stay available, they have to stay fit, because one of the strengths of the team is not only four good centre-backs but definitely also players that can impact the game from the bench.”