Toulouse beat Liverpool 3-2 in the fourth round of Group E of the Europa League. It thus returned the defeat from the previous round to its opponent, when it took away a five-goal quota from the north-west of England. Aron Donnum took care of the home team’s leading goal before halftime, who scored after a big mistake by the Reds. He was followed up after the change of sides, first by the proven gunner of the French team, Thijs Dallinga, and then by Frank Magri, whose shot turned out to be the winner in the end. Thus, Le Tef came significantly closer to progressing to the knockout stages and came closer to their opponent in the table with a difference of only two points.
The form of Les Violets raised legitimate concerns ahead of the rematch with the English giants. The last time they enjoyed a victory in the league was at the beginning of October, and in 14th place in the table, they were only one point ahead of the play-off position. Even the memory of the opening mutual duel at Anfield, where Toulouse took a five-goal beating, did not bring much optimism to the home ranks. The Reds were clear favorites even now, but their recent run of form has been slightly slowed down by an unexpected league loss at Luton.
Right from the end of the match, Liverpool could have taken the lead, but Joe Gomez’s header from the fifth minute only ended up on the crossbar. In the 17th minute, Alexis Mac Allister sent a sharp shot from the edge of the box, but Guillaume Restes headed for a corner. Luis Díaz then fired from behind the box, but his ground shot was a long way from the goal.
After half an hour of play, Ben Doak tried to change the score from close range. However, he sent his blow exactly to the places where the prepared Restes was. Toulouse took the lead in the 36th minute, when Donnum took advantage of the Englishmen’s mistakes and after a quick escape hit the left post.
After switching sides, Dalling managed to get the ball into the net in the 50th minute. However, his joy was soon taken away by the referee, as he helped himself to the goal with a foul. Moments later, the Dutch forward scored a goal. He processed a cross from the right side in the penalty area and promptly cleared it to the far post.
In the 74th minute, Liverpool managed to reduce after Cristian Cásseres unluckily knocked the ball into his own net. Immediately, however, the home team took the two-goal lead back when the ball landed in Magri’s net. The team from Anfield Road was only able to reduce when Diogo Jota scored in the very end.
Thus, in retaliation against a much more famous opponent, Toulouse stepped up and robbed it of all the points. His next opponent will be Royale Union again at home on November 30. Liverpool will try to make up for the unexpected loss on the same day against LASK Linz.
