Liverpool suffered a defeat of no consequence in Toulouse

By -

A much changed Liverpool XI fall to the club's first defeat in the Europa League this season having been edged in a five goal thriller in France as it finished 3-2 to the host inside the Toulouse Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp made series of changes to the starting XI in Luton on Sunday, with Caoimhin Kelleher replacing Alisson Becker in goal while only Joe Gomez, who started in left-back in the one all draw was the only member of the defence to feature.

Kostas Tsmikas, Joel Matip and Jarrel Quansah made up the other three member of the four man defense. Alexis Mac Allister kept his place in the midfield in the company of Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliot.

A completely new look attack comprised the trio of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and 17-year-old Scottish sensation Ben Doak, who made his second start in the competition having started in the 3-1 win away to LASK.

Despite Liverpool enjoying a fair share of the possession earlier on, it was the host who drew the first blood six minutes after the half-hour mark as Norwegian midfielder Aron Donnum robbed Tsmikas off possession before moving into the box and beating Kelleher for 1-0.

Thijs Dallinga, who had a goal ruled out at the start of the second half made it 2-0 to the host two minutes before the hour mark.

Once again Liverpool surrendered possession cheaply around their own area as Diaz gave the ball away. Sierro picked it up and send a cross into the box to find Dallinga. The striker took it in his stride and powered his shot past Kelleher for a second time, and this he was able to double his side's advantage.

Liverpool halved the deficit 15 minutes from time as a long ball from Trent Alexander Arnold into the area was met by the head of captain on the night Joe Gomez, who headed across goal but diverted into the back of the net via the shoulder of Cristian Casseres.

Toulouse responded almost immediately with their third goal of the game, scored by substitute Frank Magri following a moment of loss of concentration by the Liverpool defence.

Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota were all introduced by Klopp but only Jota was able to score one more to make it 3-2 but a minute before the end of normal time.

Jarrel Quansah thought he has rescued a point for the Reds with his first senior goal after heading home in the 98th minute but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review showed Mac Allister had handled the ball in the build up.

Toulouse earned a win that took them to seven points while Liverpool maintains top spot having won all three previous games.

A home win against LASK in the next international break will be enough for them to progress into the knockout round while a draw could also be enough depending on result in the other group game between Union St.Gilloise and Toulouse.

Now without a win in their last two games having won all previous four, Liverpool return to League action this weekend as they play host to Brentford before the international break.


Hassan Afolabi 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ralf Rangnick proffered a permanent solution but United choose to make more casualties with Erik Ten Hag

By -
Image
Ralf Rangnick appeared to have unraveled the puzzle at Manchester United during his short stint as the club's interim manager but the hierarchy did not take heed to his priceless advice. Albeit the German did not enjoy the best of time in the helm of affairs in Old Trafford, Rangnick, who had proven to be more of a administrative minded man prior to his appointment at the club did left blueprints that could have healed the club completely. Looking back and you'll realize it could have been more worth it had speculations of him becoming the club's Director after leaving the Coaching role come to pass. Even in his early days as a professional football coach, Rangnick did not have a reputation of thriving when the stake is high but he flourishes more in an environment that gives him the avenue to build from scratch. The notion was proven truth during his time at Stuttgart, Hannover and even Schalke, where he helped all these teams finesse nightmares into glamour. His appointme
Read more

Doping in sports and the popular culprits in football

By -
Image
Doping in sports is a huge crime as it damages its credibility, and athletes are viewed to have committed an offense when they test positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED). What is doping ? According to Merriam Webster defines doping as the use of a substance (such as an anabolic steroid or erythropoietin) or technique (such as blood doping) to illegally improve athletic performance. In sports, such action is regarded as cheat, and grave consequences always come with it. Not only that, but on the players' part and their safety, as in the long run, such substances have a long-lasting side effect on the health of the players. Why do athletes dope (take illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED)) ? There are several reasons take illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and it also depends on the type of sports the athletes in question do. The majority of the reasons is to boost performance. Athletes are also tempted when injured and do not have enough time to recover before
Read more

A sign of what is to come but no excuse for Chelsea's late capitulation in the London derby

By -
Image
Chelsea ended a run of three straight home defeats to Arsenal in an enthralling London derby match in the Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. While many will see it as a positive omen for the host, which is rightly so, it was very poor game management by both the players and the manager to allow the visitors snatch a point later on the night. Arsenal was there for the taking. It was the worst display by Mikel Arteta's side in recent years and despite having a two goal cushion, Mauricio Pochettino's side were unable to see out the win from a very comfortable position. Cole Palmer and Mykaylo Mudryk continue to show signs of finally settling into their rhythm under Mauricio Pochettino, much to the delight of the home support as the Blues were all over their rival from the North for the first 70 minutes in the Bridge. Both players also scored in either half, with Mykaylo Mudryk scoring his first ever Chelsea goal in the Stamford Bridge with a wonderful cross-cum-shot, which caugh
Read more