On Thursday, Liverpool experienced a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat at the hands of French side Toulouse in the Europa League Group E. The English team had a potential equalizer disallowed in the final minute of added time, adding to the drama.
Toulouse seized the lead in the 36th minute when Aron Donnum intercepted the ball in midfield, penetrated the box, and scored with a deflected shot. Thijs Dallinga then doubled their advantage in the 58th minute.
Liverpool managed to pull one back in the 73rd minute thanks to an own goal by Cristian Casseres. However, Frank Magri swiftly restored Toulouse’s two-goal lead by slotting home a deflected cross from close range.
Diogo Jota injected hope into the Premier League side by dribbling into the box and skillfully placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Luis Diaz, who had a particularly trying day due to his father’s release from kidnappers earlier on Thursday, started the match for Liverpool but was substituted by Jota nine minutes from time after having limited impact on the game.
Liverpool appeared to have salvaged a draw as Jarell Quansah found the net in the seventh minute of stoppage time. However, VAR disallowed the goal due to a handball by Alexis Mac Allister earlier in the build-up.
Klopp bemoans VAR decision and Liverpool’s chaotic display:
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was left frustrated by VAR’s decision to disallow a late equalizer in his side’s 3-2 defeat to Toulouse in the Europa League and admitted that his team’s chaotic display deserved to be punished.
“We scored a third goal, I think it was 100% a goal,” Klopp said. “It was a long time ago and the ball was in a tricky situation, but that’s how it is.
“With all the possession we had, we should obviously have created more chances, but you cannot concede three goals here. That makes no sense.”
Klopp’s post-match interview was interrupted by boisterous celebrations from the Toulouse supporters, prompting the German to joke: “We were as organized as this press conference – pretty chaotic! Who had the idea to do the press conference here?”
Despite the defeat, Liverpool remain top of Group E, two points ahead of Toulouse.