Darwin Nunez fires landmark goal as Liverpool take control of Sparta Prague tie
Europa League Round of 16 1st leg
Sparta Prague 1 (Bradley og 46')
Liverpool 5 (Mac Allister pen 6', Nunez 25', 45'; Diaz 53', Szoboszlai 90')
Darwin Nunez scored the 1,000th goal of Jurgen Klopp's reign in Liverpool's comfortable 5-1 Europa League win over Sparta Prague but it was not quite the perfect warm-up for Sunday's title clash with Manchester City after another injury blow.
The Uruguay international finished the last-16 first-leg tie with another on the stroke of half-time but it was his first in the 25th minute which was massively important - and not just because of the landmark it brought up.
Liverpool had been under a sustained spell of pressure after Alexis Mac Allister, taking over penalty duties from Nunez after his failure against Chelsea in January, had put them ahead.
Perhaps spurred on by that snub Nunez - out of nowhere, as is often his inclination - cut in from the left to whip a brilliant 25-yard dipping shot over goalkeeper Peter Vindahl.
His second effectively came when Mac Allister, head and shoulders above everyone else in possession, played a superb ball over the top which his fellow South American lashed across Vindahl and inside the far post.
Luis Diaz scored the fourth and Klopp even had the luxury of giving much-needed minutes to midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai - who scored the fifth - and forward Mohamed Salah on his return to tune them up for the weekend, but the loss of centre-back Ibrahima Konate to injury is another unwanted headache.
The gulf in class in terms of finishing was evident as Sparta, unbeaten at home all season, squandered a number of chances which could have made this much trickier whereas Liverpool were clinical and had plenty in reserve.
When the two sides last
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