Darwin Nunez accused of 'Mocking' Marcus Rashford with celebration, he went there

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez has been accused of 'mocking' Marcus Rashford after he performed the Manchester United forward's trademark celebration in Sunday's Premier League clash at Anfield.

The 23-year-old Uruguayan striker, who has scored 14 goals in 34 appearances for club and country this season, netted a brace for Liverpool in their 7-0 drubbing of Manchester United.

He doubled the home side's advantage shortly after the restart before bagging his brace with 75 minutes played.

And after giving Jurgen Klopp's side a resounding 5-0 lead following goals from Cody Gakpo [2] and Mohamed Salah, the former Benfica man celebrated by pointing to his temple.

Whether he meant to or not, Nunez was accused of mocking the in-form Rashford, who has been in prolific form for Erik ten Hag's side of late.

After the majority of his 28 goals this season, Rashford has pointed his index finger to his temple – a celebration that has been performed by many players since, including Nunez.

One fan commented on the incident, saying: "How am I only noticing now that Nunez mocked Rashford?" while another commented: "Difference thing is Nunez is 5th and Rashy is 3rd with a trophy and still in FA Cup."

A third added: "Top player. Always rated him. Even when he wasn't scoring he was always causing problems to the opposition just needed to be clinical which he is now showing." 

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— 🔜 (@ndswii) March 5, 2023

So why does Rashford perform such a celebration? For months, the meaning behind his symbolic finger-point remained unknown until Rio Ferdinand paid a visit to Carrington last month.

Speaking on his VIBE with FIVE podcast, Ferdinand explained: “Rashford, I found out today, by the way, I went to Carrington today to interview Bruno [Fernandes], it was good.

“I saw [long-serving receptionist] Kath [Phipps], been there 56 years the lady! Ridiculous! But the celebration, it’s mentality. Nice, innit. Simple. But it’s just travelled massively.

“Everyone ‘round the world is doing it now. All the young kids scoring goals, that’s the impact Rashford has had.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, praised Darwin Nunez's impact at Anfield in his post-match press conference.

"It was one of the best performances for a long, long time," he said.

"In a way, everybody saw how good the boys could be. Nobody is in doubt about Darwin’s future impact because he’s a real force of nature, but Cody plays in the most difficult area of the pitch against a man-marking side, which is super tricky, but look how he keeps himself on his feet and provides the overview for everyone else. And Mo is Mo!"

Thoughts on Nunez's celebration against Manchester United on Sunday?

Let us know in the comments.