Diogo Jota on “Crazy 24 Hours” and Burnley Winner
Liverpool’s Portuguese poacher scored a late goal to ensure the Reds took maximum points from their away day at Burnley.
Liverpool were by far the better side against Burnley, dominating the game and preventing opponents Burnley from recording a single shot on target. But with two goals questionably disallowed goals, the game felt nervier than it should have.
Enter Diogo Jota, with the Portuguese poacher unexpectedly returning to the lineup and scoring a 90th minute sealer that ensured the Reds would end the day 2-0 victors and climb past Arsenal into first place in the league at least for the time being.
“It was a crazy 24 hours and I was not expecting to be in this squad list, to be honest,” Jota said following his late heroics. “I was at home when I found out I needed to travel back out again to train with the team, but from that moment on I just felt I needed to do this.
“I had some special people in the crowd today, my family, they came over for Christmas. It was great to get the win, score and be back on the pitch and get these three points. I think it was the best Christmas gift for everyone here.”
Jota also opened up on the fact that it’s not just the fans who were feeling a little nervous when fate and inconsistent Premier League officiating conspired to keep the scoreline at 1-0 for far longer than seemed plausible by the run of play and chances created.
Liverpool were by any metric by far the better side, but on the road against a stubborn opponent in a relegation fight there was a feeling a second goal was needed to fully put Burnley away—and then Jota delivered it late on, as he so often has.
“We were contemplating on the bench as well,” he added. “These are the type of games when you are 1-0 up, you have chances, you miss them and you score then it’s disallowed for offside or a foul, and you just feel we need this second goal.
“They will believe, they are playing at home, it’s Burnley, they are able to score. They had a couple of chances as well but fortunately for us we were the ones scoring that second goal and it was decisive, and to be back with a goal is always special.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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