Liverpool continued their hot start to the UEFA Europa League group stage by commanding a 5-1 thrashing of French side Toulouse on Thursday at Anfield Stadium. The Reds won their first two group games against LASK and Belgian side Royal Union.
After a morale-boosting 2-0 win at the weekend against Everton in the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s side started blazing from the blast of the whistle as Diogo Jota opened the scoring after nine minutes. Thijs Dalinga pulled the visitors back in the 16th minute, but they were only levelled for 15 minutes.
The home side returned ahead through Wataru Endo, who scored his first Liverpool goal since joining the club in the summer as he found the back of the net half an hour into the game.
Four minutes later, Darwin Nunez made it 3-1 as the home side went into the break with a healthy lead, and the second half was straightforward, although the goals were fewer as the game didn’t ignite until the 65th minute when Ryan Gravenbarch scored.
Meanwhile, there was time for the Merseyside derby hero, Mohammed Salah, to also get on the scoresheet. The Egyptian got into the game in the 70th minute after replacing Ryan Gravenbarch. He had scored a brace at the weekend, including a penalty, but he didn’t need one on Thursday as he rounded up the scoring in the 93rd minute.
One of Liverpool’s youngsters, Luke Chambers, relished his debut and appraised England international Trent Alexander-Arnold as his inspiration.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was six. To top it off with a win as well, I’m lost for words. I found out yesterday and had a bit of time with my family at night. The reality hit. Trent’s done what I aspire to do. Watching Trent do it gives us academy lads a stepping stone to go and recreate it. I couldn’t ask for someone better to look up to.” Chambers said.
PL Teams’ Europa League and Conference League Results.
FT: Brighton 2-0 Ajax
FT: Liverpool 5-1 Toulouse
FT: Olympiakos 2-1 West Ham
FT: AZ Alkmaar 1-4 Aston Villa.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
