Liverpool continued their three-game winning streak in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) with a huge win over Toulouse (France). Japan’s defensive midfielder Wataru Endo scored his debut goal for Liverpool and UEL, contributing to a 5-1 victory.
Liverpool won 5-1 against Toulouse in the third match of Group E of the 2023-24 UEL group stage held at Anfield in Liverpool, England on the 27th (Korean time). Starting with Diogo Jota, Endo, Darwin Núñez, Ryan Hrabenberg, and Mohamed Salah scored goals one after another.
With this win, Liverpool took the lead with all three wins in the group stage (9 points), following a 3-1 win over LASK Linz (Austria) and a 2-0 win over Union SG (Belgium). They are likely to advance to the tournament with a 5-point gap over second-place teams such as Union SG and Toulouse.
Endo, who left Stuttgart (Germany) and moved to Liverpool through the transfer window last summer, scored his debut goal after 9 official matches. This is the first time he has scored a goal in a UEFA club competition. His debut goal had added meaning as it was the winning goal in the team’s victory.
On this day, Liverpool used a 4-3-3 formation with Núñez at the center and Jota and Harvey Elliott on either side. Hrabenberg, Endo, and Curtis Jones formed the midfield. Luke Chambers, born in 2004, Joe Gomes, Yoel Matip, and Trent Alexander-Arnold guarded the defensive line, and Quivin Kelleher guarded the goal.
Liverpool broke the balance with Jota’s first goal in the 9th minute of the first half. He hit the opponent’s net with a right-footed shot from inside the penalty box. Liverpool’s first shot on this day led to a goal. Afterwards, Gomes, Matip, and Nuñez continued to target the opponent’s goal with successive shots, but it was fruitless. Rather, they were shaken by conceding the equalizer in the 16th minute of the first half.
Liverpool, struggling to break the balance again, took the lead again in the 30th minute of the first half. In a corner kick situation, Endo came to the rescue. He headed Alexander Arnold’s cross from the right flank and hit the net. It was his first goal since moving to Liverpool and his debut goal in UEFA club competitions.
Liverpool gained momentum and took the win four minutes later when Nuñez scored an additional goal with a left-footed shot. Then, with back-to-back goals from Salah, who came on as a substitute for Grabenberg, in the second half, the home fans were gifted a 5-1 victory. Without multiple attack points, 9 players scored and assisted evenly.
Liverpool was ahead in ball possession with 62% and also had a significant advantage in the number of shots, 21-9. Of the 9 effective shots aimed at the inside of the goal, 5, more than half, resulted in goals. Grabenberg, who played as a midfielder, received the highest rating of 8.8 out of both teams in both PotMob and SofaScore, and Endo also received high ratings of 8.7 and 8.3, respectively.
In particular, Endo, who played as a defensive midfielder, showed his presence in the midfield by recording a pass success rate of 96%, ground ball duel winning rate of 73% (8 successes), and aerial ball duel winning rate of 75% (3 successes). Nikan Sports of Japan said, “Endo scored his first goal in 9 official games since moving to Liverpool. He said, “He connected a side cross with a strong header,” and Soccer Digest also said, “Endo’s first goal after his transfer became the winning goal.”카지노사이트
AS Roma, led by coach Jose Mourinho, also defeated Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 2-0 and continued its streak of three consecutive wins in the group stage. Roma broke the balance with Edoardo Bovet’s first goal in the first minute, and then added an additional goal from Romelu Lukaku in the 17th minute of the first half. Both goals were assisted by Stefan El Shaarawy.
Bayer Leverkusen, which is leading the German Bundesliga ahead of Bayern Munich and others, also defeated Karabakh (Azerbaijan) 5-1 and continued its streak of three consecutive wins. Brighton & Hove Albion defeated Ajax (Netherlands) 2-0 and won its first UEFA club competition. Kaoru Mitoma, who played full-time as a starter, did not record any attack points, however.
In addition, Olympique Marseille (France) defeated AEK Athens (Greece) 3-1 thanks to the opposing goalkeeper’s sending off and two penalty kick goals, while Freiburg (Germany) defeated Vashka Toe with Vincenzo Griffo scoring a hat trick. They defeated Pola (Serbia) 3-1. West Ham lost 1-2 away to Olympiacos (Greece), suffering their first loss after two consecutive wins.