Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reserved special praise for Darwin Nunez following his "incredible" goal in the Reds' 3-1 Premier League triumph over West Ham United at Anfield.
The Merseyside giants extended their winning streak to six matches in front of their own fans, as Mohamed Salah, Nunez and Diogo Jota rendered Jarrod Bowen's effort inconsequential.
Salah broke the deadlock from the penalty spot before Bowen's diving header drew the Irons level, as the Englishman bravely flung himself at Virgil van Dijk's feet to find the far corner.
However, Liverpool restored their advantage on the hour mark, as Nunez got in between the two West Ham centre-backs and poked a delicate volley into the bottom corner from Alexis Mac Allister's chipped ball over the top.
A close-range strike from Jota completed the job, and Klopp could not help but wax lyrical about Nunez, who has experienced a turbulent start to the campaign in front of goal.
"Of course, that's now a really special one the second one. Incredible. Everybody is looking at me when talking about the goal with [wide] eyes but I saw it only once yet. So I can't wait to see it properly back," Klopp said.
"Massive steps in the last few weeks. He is a threat. You all saw the goal, it was probably pretty good, right? That was really strong. He was always available for us, it is super-important for us that we have now – I am not sure it's the right word – a ball player.
"Chip the ball there, get it on the chest and play from there, like we scored the third at Wolves for example. I think that was a similar situation and super-important for us.
"The defensive work he puts in now, that's probably the main difference. He always wanted, but it was less coordinated. Now that looks much better and we found a way how we can do it around him. Curtis [Jones] and Dom [Dominik Szobozlai] help there a lot with how flexible they are in that way. Really good, absolutely."
Mac Allister - who was afforded time and space to pick his pass to Nunez - also believes that Reds fans will see the best of the Uruguayan striker in the coming months, adding: "It was a nice pass. I saw Mo and Darwin were going in behind, so I just had to play the ball and Darwin did the rest.
"I think he's getting better and better. I think we will see the best of him this year. He's a very nice guy, he's working very hard. I'm really pleased for him.
"The first half was a bit tough. They did really well. But the second half we were the dominant team, so really happy with the performance and of course the result.
"We knew that they were going to play like this. They are a team that defend a lot and are very good in counter attack, so we scored the first goal but they got going. They are a very good side, a very tough team, but thank God we won it.
"This is Liverpool. We will have to play games every three or four days, so we have to be ready for the next game and that's what we are going to do."
With Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur playing out a 2-2 draw in the North London derby, Liverpool have risen to second in the Premier League table ahead of next weekend's trip to Ange Postecoglou's team. body check tags ::
