Villa were having an off-day, 1-0 down to rivals Wolves on Saturday when Duran replaced Jacob Ramsey in the 62nd minute.

The home fans greeted his arrival with a wall of noise.

Just 11 minutes later he won a loose ball on the edge of the box and fed Morgan Rogers who in turn set up Watkins for Villa’s equaliser.

After Ezri Konsa put the hosts ahead in the 88th minute, Duran struck in the fourth minute of added time following a well-timed run and calm finish after Morgan’s pass across goal.

“He’s a big talent,” team-mate Konsa told BBC Match of the Day. “We see it every day in training. It’s important for him to stay humble and we’ll help him do that. He’s still young.”

The stats make impressive reading.

Six of Villa’s past 12 Premier League goals have been scored by Duran after he came off the bench.

The 20-year-old has scored a goal every 80 minutes across his league career. Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has a better ratio with a strike every 79 minutes (minimum two goals scored).

Duran’s three winning goals as a substitute – which equate to one every 33 minutes – are the joint-most for winners in a single Premier League season.

But he still has some way to go to match Adam le Fondre’s record of eight as a sub, winners or not, in a single campaign.

While Jermain Defoe (24) has the most all-time Premier League goals as a substitute. Duran, who has eight, is not even in the top 40.

World number three Carlos Alcaraz has criticised the congested tennis calendar, saying “they are going to kill us in some way”.

The 21-year-old spoke about the issue after beating American Ben Shelton in the Laver Cup, which is the Spaniard’s 14th tournament of the year.

Alcaraz has claimed two Grand Slams this year, winning the French Open and Wimbledon, while he also earned a silver medal at the Olympics in Paris this summer.

He suffered a shock second-round loss to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open in August, losing in straight sets.

“Probably they are going to kill us in some way,” said Alcaraz.

“Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that [injury].”

The Laver Cup is contested between Team Europe and Team World, with this year’s contest taking place in Berlin.

Alcaraz had played 50 singles matches in 2024 before the event, winning 41 and losing nine.

The four-time Grand Slam winner said that he sometimes struggles to motivate himself because of the the amount of tennis in his schedule.

“Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a tournament,” he said. “I’m not going to lie – I have felt this way a few times already.

“Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all. But as I’ve said many, many times, I play my best tennis when I smile and enjoy it on court. That’s the best option to keep motivating (myself).”

Eddie Hearn delivered a knockout blow to Devin Haney before the Joshua vs. Dubois event.

The promoter didn’t take too kindly to being hit up on X for tickets to the massive boxing event at the 90,000-seat Wembley stadium in London on Saturday evening.

Well, Hearn believes Haney could have phrased it a little better, anyway.

Without a ticket to the fight, it led other boxing stars like Conor Benn and Gervonta Davis to poke a little fun at Haney’s situation.

Haney responded to Benn’s ticket shot by commenting on his hairstyle.

Update: Haney still made it to the event.

The try-scoring continued four minutes after the restart when John Hodnett barrelled over, moments after Diarmuid Barron was held up just short of the line.

Connacht missed an opportunity to nudge back ahead when Iaone’s penalty struck the post, and Munster survived after the visitors won the ball back but some ferocious defence saw the ball held up over the line.

However, Munster were punished when David Hawkshaw scored the try of the match. Cathal Forde, Iaone and Dave Heffernan combined with some quick hands and Hawkshaw cut through the Munster defence to score unchallenged.

While Hawkshaw’s try was all about pace, Munster hit back through the power of Gavin Coombes.

The number eight collected the ball 10 metres out and used his strength to carry two Connacht players over the line with him, and Burns converted to put the hosts back in front.

Connacht refused to go away and the impressive Forde flew over in the 64th minute off the back of a scrum, and Iaone converted to put five between the sides once more.

Roared on by their home support, Munster had the final say with 10 minutes to play when Daly scored out wide, and 22-year-old Butler, on for the injured Burns, nailed the difficult conversion to secure an opening-day win.

While they fell to a defeat, Connacht have the consolation of taking two bonus points back to the Sportsground.

Munster: Mike Haley; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Billy Burns, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron (C), John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhan Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Josh Wycherley, Oli Jager, Alex Kendellen, Jack O’Donoghue, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Sean O’Brien.

Connacht: Santiago Cordero, Mack Hansen, Piers O’Conor, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton, Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy, Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier, Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray, Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast (C).

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Oisin Dowling, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Caolin Blade, David Hawkshaw, Sean Jansen.

It was not just his goal against Bournemouth that caught his manager’s eye, though. Nunez carried out his defensive duties diligently, registering more tackles than any other player on the pitch apart from team-mate Alexis Mac Allister.

“Of course, I play a striker because I like him to score goals – but it also helps if you keep a clean sheet,” added Slot, whose side top the table on goal difference from Manchester City and Aston Villa. “[In] keeping a clean sheet, Darwin was also involved.”

Nunez had played just 74 minutes under Slot before Saturday, but his fine all-round display will boost his chances of featuring more prominently in the coming weeks, as Liverpool juggle Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League commitments.

Liverpool welcome West Ham to Anfield in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday, before travelling to Wolves in their next league game on Saturday.

They also return to Champions League action with a home match against Bologna on Wednesday 2 October.

“I think you get consistency by two things,” Slot replied when asked how the 25-year-old can establish himself as a more regular starter. “You get it by work-rate and you get it by team performance.

“If the team performance is not consistent, it’s so difficult for an individual to be consistent as well. We have to create our habits day by day on the training ground.

“[Nunez] showed a good game today. Maybe he can show it again on Wednesday.”