Though he scored an excellent goal off the bench on Thursday night, Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Toulouse saw Diogo Jota denied an all-time club record.
Jota’s composed run and finish was one of few highlights for Liverpool in their Europa League loss, giving hope of a comeback by making it 3-2 late on.
But a controversial end that saw referee Georgi Kabakov rule out Jarell Quansah‘s equaliser, due to a ‘handball’ from Alexis Mac Allister several phases before in the buildup, denied the Reds a point.
It also ended Jota’s remarkable run of never losing a game when he had found the back of the net for Liverpool.
Before Thursday, the Portuguese had scored 47 times across 38 different games, with his record standing at 32 wins and six draws.
According to Opta’s Michael Reid, however, defeat for Liverpool meant Jota was unable to equal Steve Nicol’s all-time record of scoring in 39 games and never losing.
Diogo Jota was one game away from the record for all-time most games scored in for #LFC without ever losing.
The new top 5:
39 – Steve Nicol (W31 D8)
34 – Peter Crouch (W29 D5)
30 – John Wark (W26 D4)
21 – Djibril Cissé (W18 D3)
17 – 5 players https://t.co/ep0prHVDpY— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) November 10, 2023
Jota had already leapfrogged Peter Crouch (34 games) earlier in the season, with John Wark (30 games) and Djibril Cisse (21 games) making up the top five.
This is, of course, a footnote on a frustrating night for Liverpool, as they failed to secure the win that would have guaranteed a spot in the last 16 with two group games to play.
But on a personal level it will be a disappointment to Jota, whose knack for timely goals has become a key feature of his game since arriving from Wolves.
His feat remains hugely impressive, of course, falling just one shy of a player, in Nicol, who won four league titles and a European Cup with the club.
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