DIOGO JOTA SCORED a hat-trick as Liverpool crushed Atalanta 5-0 in their Champions League Group D clash in Bergamo on Tuesday.
Portuguese forward Jota turned in the first for the Premier League leaders after quarter of an hour, adding a second on 33 minutes to put the visitors two-goals up at the break in a empty Gewiss stadium in northern Italy.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s home side needed to pull off a comeback from two goals down as they did to hold Ajax 2-2 a week ago.
But Liverpool continued the punishment in the second half with Mohamed Saleh and Sadio Mane adding two more within four minutes, and Jota completing his hat-trick after 55 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp’s 2019 Champions League winners are top of Group D with their maximum nine points and are five clear of both Atalanta and Ajax, who won 2-1 at Danish champions Midtjylland.
Jota continued his impressive form after moving to Anfield from Wolves in September.
ATA 0-5 LIV Hat-trick for Diogo Jota as Liverpool score on the break once again. #RTEsoccer Updates: https://t.co/ZVe5pBZQ2q pic.twitter.com/T5TLIqianp
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 3, 2020
The 23-year-old threatened within two minutes as he started up front alongside Salah and Mane.
Colombian duo Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel led the Atalanta attack in front of captain Papu Gomez.
But Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta lacked form with defender Hans Hateboer just getting the all clear before the game.
Jota cut inside Hateboer straight away but Marco Sportiello got down low to smother the shot, the Atalanta goalkeeper then tipping over a Mane goal-bound effort.
Muriel had a chance to open after quarter of an hour off a Gomez free-kick with former Roma keeper Alisson Becker struggling to control before stopping the ball.
The breakthrough came a minute later with Trent Alexander-Arnold sending through for Jota to muscle out Jose Luis Palomino and beat Sportiello.
Jota then again got the better of Hateboer for his second after 33 minutes with Sportiello denying Mane the chance of a third minutes later.
But Salah broke through two minutes after the break and set up Mane for the fourth two minutes later past an out-rushing Sportiello, with Jota completing the rout on 55 minutes.
The Portuguese became just the second player to score on his first two starts in the Champions League for Liverpool since Robbie Keane 2008, having opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over Midtjylland last time out.
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Won’t be the last
@Brian Carr: If spurs don’t get supporters into their ground fast they are in big trouble….a massive shiny new stadium with the massive bills that come with it. Liverpool’s owners again showing they are proper business men not gambling on a massive loan to buy a new stadium, they are improving Anfield in manageable stages smart men!
@Peter Hughes: Joseph Lewis owns Tottenham and is worth is around 4billion so I dont think Spurs are in too much trouble for a long time yet.
@Peter Coen: So why did they need to get a 175 million loan from the UK government?
@Peter Coen: they also borrowed over £100m to see them through the current situation. They’ll not be stuck.
@Peter Hughes: and CHAMPIONS!
@Wheresmyjumper: Probably is not really explaining it.
@Wheresmyjumper: Probably the same reason wigan went under, they probably have owners with money but they are not willing to take the hit and are just letting the club sink…..who says the Spurs owner will pump hundreds of millions of his own money in when all the debt is probably under the clubs name, perhaps he will just walk away a bit like the ex Liverpool owners nearly put the club into administration.
@Wheresmyjumper: Wrong move by LFC but they never received a penny in furlough.
@Peter Coen: Yes but he isnt going to keep sinking money into a black hole
Feel sorry for the staff. Only in the prem 7 years ago. Goes to show how bad some of these clubs are been run. Wign are a big enough club to have survived this pandemic if it was run properly the last few years.
@Ken: it’s also a relatively low debt
@Ken: Wigan fans never backed the clubs success or PL journey in sufficient numbers….always a joke following. Basically Dave Whelans play thing till he got bored or saw what was heading down the line….
Wigan has always been a rugby league town. Could never get close to filling their 25k seater stadium during 8 seasons in the premier league.
@Fergus O’Connor: Interesting that since their record tickets sold is 25,133 against United when they were in the Premier League, that’s 5 off the max capacity.
@Marcus Suridius: Their averages every season were 5-7k below capacity
It’s only the beginning, the efl was already a ticking financial time bomb ready to go off before corona and lock down, clubs barely afford to pay wages and staff along with bills. And now with large crowds a long way off being allowed into stadiums till close to or after the new year, clubs like Wigan will struggle to even get the cash flow needed to start the new season while just about finishing this one
Not a fan but sad to hear
Only taken over by new owners 4 weeks ago!!
I remember wigans first season in the p league under Paul Jewell they done incredible to be in the top 10. Amazing what a few years can do in football
Sure a professional football player only costs about £100,000,000 nowadays
@Tony O Neill:
That is precisely the problem!
Relative to Total Income, transfer fees and player wage costs are out of sync with reality for many clubs in the upper tiers of English football.
Covid-19 lockdown hasn’t helped.
Classic catch22 situation; no investment to acquire quality players, the club slides down the divisions; if investment available… lots of income absorbed in higher wages; no dyed in the wool fan base, poor gate receipts from season tickets.
Clubs with good academies, bringing on young talent, seem to do best, plus the ones owned by the Billionaires
Not for the feint hearted, such investments!
And so it begins
All the little Pie-Eaters will start supporting the Manchester teams now.
@Ian Heaton: they do anyway and that’s the problem.
I can never understand why the F.A penalise the club and players and supporter who are probably innocent of all the dealings and the owners get away scot free