Darwin Nunes scored Uruguay’s third goal as Marcelo Bielsa’s side suffered their first defeat against Argentina since winning the World Cup.
Uruguay are transforming under Bielsa, with the legendary manager bringing aggression and determination to complement the talented new generation.
Núñez is at the heart of it all, with the 24-year-old taking over as the country’s main attacking threat from Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani.
After working one-on-one with Bielsa and Jurgen Klopp, Nunez has been in fine form this season. Under the new coach, he appeared in 5 matches and recorded 3 goals and 3 assists.
His latest goal was a stunning comeback in Uruguay’s 2-0 win over Argentina.
Argentina advanced to their eighth consecutive World Cup qualifying competition unbeaten on Thursday after winning the 2023 World Cup in Qatar.
Uruguay showed their intent early on when Nunes deflected a big ball from Ronald Araujo off the shoulder of Nicolas Otamendi and just wide of the far post.
Araujo finished well to make it 1-0 at half-time, with Alexis McAllister coming on as a substitute for Argentina after picking up a first-half yellow card. Solskjaer described the midfielder as “disappointed”.
Argentina dominated possession (63%) and had twice as many shots on goal (12 to 6), but Uruguay came late.
Lionel Messi cleared the ball from the edge of the box and Jose Jimenez fed it to Nicolas de la Cruz, who passed the ball to Nunes who advanced.
Nunez started in her own half, received the ball near the center point, raced toward goal, faked a shot and beat Amy Martinez to make it 2-0.
As evidenced by the 2-1 comeback at Newcastle in August, this is a finish he’s actually worked towards, and while it didn’t work at all in the first half, it did this time.
After their historic victory at La Bombonera, Uruguay beat Brazil and Argentina for the first time in World Cup qualifying.
Nunez played a key role in both, scoring one goal and assisting another in a 2-0 win over Brazil and now in a 2-0 win over Argentina.
