Amara Nallo made only his second senior appearance for Liverpool tonight, and once again, it ended far sooner than he would have hoped.
The 18-year-old’s first outing came against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last January, where he lasted just four minutes before being shown a red card. Unfortunately, history repeated itself on Wednesday as Liverpool crashed out of the Carabao Cup to Crystal Palace. This time Nallo survived a bit longer, coming on in the 67th minute, but was dismissed just 12 minutes later after a last-man challenge on Justin Devenny.
Van Dijk consoles Nallo after the sending off
It was another tough moment in what’s still the very early stages of Nallo’s professional career. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was seen heading down the tunnel to offer support and speak to the youngster after the red card.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Stephen Warnock said:
> “It’s a horrible feeling for a young player. First appearance, you’re sent off. Then you get another chance, make a mistake, and it leads to another red card. I just saw Van Dijk going to find him — you have to lift him up.”
Another lesson for the teenager
Nallo now holds the unwanted record of playing only 16 senior minutes for Liverpool and being dismissed twice — both times for stopping goal-scoring opportunities.
His red card didn’t change the outcome of the match — Palace were already leading 2-0 and cruising towards victory — but it will still hurt the young defender that his night finished in such disappointing fashion.
If Van Dijk did go straight to him to offer encouragement, that speaks volumes about the skipper’s leadership and character, especially when dealing with a teenager experiencing early setbacks.
For Nallo, the focus now will be on learning from the moment and showing resilience. He’s clearly highly rated — he wouldn’t be involved with the senior squad otherwise — so the hope is that he bounces back quickly and proves why Liverpool believe in his talent.
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