VAR drama as Toulouse stun Liverpool to record famous European win
Hoping to recover from a disappointing Premier League draw away at Luton Town at the weekend, Liverpool kicked off knowing they had the opportunity to seal UEL knockout football with two group games to spare.
Joe Gomez flicked a header onto the crossbar in the opening stages, but the Reds struggled to create many further first-half openings and were punished in the 36th minute.
Kostas Tsimikas was at fault for sloppily losing possession, allowing Aron Dønnum to charge towards goal before sending a deflected effort beyond Caoimhin Kelleher, giving Le Téfécé an unexpected half-time lead.
Making his third start for the club, 17-year-old Ben Doak was lively in the first half, but needing a swift response, Jürgen Klopp brought on the senior figures of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
However, it was Toulouse who began the second half quickly, missing a golden opportunity through Gabriel Suazo before Thijs Dallinga saw his would-be goal ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
With almost an hour played, the hosts deservedly doubled their lead when Vincent Sierro picked out top-scorer Dallinga, who clinically drilled an effort inside the far post to make it four consecutive goalscoring appearances.
Despite currently sitting 14th in Ligue 1, Toulouse were playing with confidence, and Dallinga had the ball in the net once more, only to be denied by the assistant’s flag this time around.
The visitors were handed a lifeline when Gomez’s looping header caused havoc at the back post, seeing three home players contesting the ball with Cristian Cásseres Jr. ultimately turning into his own net.
Yet any hopes of a comeback were swiftly quashed when Frank Magri capitalised on Kelleher’s parry to restore his side’s two-goal cushion.
Substitute Diogo Jota scored a wonderful solo goal with time running out, which set up a grandstand finish.
Jarell Quansah netted what he thought was first goal for the club deep into stoppage time, but VAR ultimately intervened to hand the French side all three points and delaying Liverpool’s likely progression to an eighth consecutive UEL knockout phase.
As for Carles Martínez Novell’s men, victory here provides an excellent platform from which to qualify, sitting three points above Royale Union Saint-Gilloise ahead of their Group C encounter at the end of the month.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Thijs Dallinga (Toulouse)
