In a surprising turn of events, Liverpool faced a shocking 3-2 defeat against French side Toulouse in the Europa League Group E match on Thursday. The English side’s potential equalizer was disallowed in the dying moments of added time, adding to the drama.
Toulouse seized the lead in the 36th minute when Aron Donnum intercepted the ball in midfield, making a decisive run into the box and scoring with a deflected shot. Thijs Dallinga extended the host’s advantage in the 58th minute. Liverpool managed to pull one back in the 73rd minute with an own goal from Cristian Casseres, but Frank Magri quickly restored Toulouse’s two-goal lead by slotting home a deflected cross.
Diogo Jota injected hope for the Premier League side, skillfully dribbling into the box and placing the ball into the bottom corner. Luis Diaz, who had a challenging day as his father was released by kidnappers earlier, started the match but made little impact, eventually being replaced by Jota in the 81st minute.
Liverpool’s apparent equalizer, scored by Jarell Quansah in the seventh minute of stoppage time, was disallowed by VAR due to a handball by Alexis Mac Allister earlier in the move. Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s manager, expressed frustration, stating, “We scored a third one, I think it was a goal 100%. It was pretty long ago the ball was in a tricky situation. I am not even sure it just the hand at all, but that is how it is.”
Klopp’s post-match interview was notably interrupted by the jubilant cheers and screams of celebrating Toulouse supporters. Klopp humorously commented on the chaos, saying, “We were as organized as this press conference – pretty chaotic. Who had the idea to do the press conference here?”
Despite the defeat, Liverpool remains at the top of Group E, holding a two-point lead over Toulouse. Klopp acknowledged the need for improvement, emphasizing, “With all the possession you have, obviously you should create more, but you cannot concede three goals here. That makes no sense.”