Trey Nyoni scored his first senior goal for Liverpool, but the Reds twice surrendered the lead to lose 3-2 at Fenerbahce in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, a result that highlighted the squad's limitations under head coach Andoni Iraola.
The 19-year-old midfielder was the standout performer in a soaking wet Chobani Stadyumu in Istanbul, capping his display with a deflected strike that put the visitors ahead. That goal made Nyoni Liverpool's second-youngest Champions League goalscorer after Trent Alexander-Arnold, at the age of 19 years 127 days.
Nyoni's rise continues
Exactly 12 months earlier, Nyoni had captained Liverpool's under-19s in a 4-0 UEFA Youth League win over Real Madrid. His progress since then has been rapid, with the teenager starting back-to-back games for the first time in the weekend defeat to Arsenal after impressing against Chelsea's midfield in the Carabao Cup.
Even without the heel injury that ruled out Ryan Gravenberch, Nyoni would almost certainly have been included on merit given his recent run of performances. His third successive start also underlined his growing physical strength and stamina.
Nyoni was everywhere at the Chobani Stadyumu, racing back to thwart Fenerbahce counter-attacks one minute and looking to thread Dominik Szoboszlai into space inside the area the next. He has shown no sign of being overawed by the occasion since first breaking into the senior set-up, initially under Arne Slot and now Iraola.
Defensive frailties cost Liverpool
While Nyoni applied himself from the first minute until his substitution five minutes from time, he was let down by too many of those around him. Iraola will have been alarmed at the manner in which his players gifted the points by twice surrendering the lead before losing 3-2 to a team who had been thrashed 6-0 at Aston Villa earlier in the tournament and last week sacked their manager.
Iraola wants his team to be full throttle. This was overwhelming proof that the current Reds squad is not capable of meaningful progress when less than 100%.
Nyoni, though, is exempt from any criticism. He is going to be the future of Liverpool, but the same cannot be said for some of his team-mates on the evidence of this poor night for the Reds.
