Luis Diaz started for Liverpool hours after his kidnapped father was freed, but they lost 3-2 to Toulouse on Thursday. West Ham made sure they would play in Europe in 2024, and Leverkusen moved on.
Three goals from Aron Donnum, Thijs Dallinga, and Frank Magri caused the shocking upset in France. It was Liverpool’s first loss in the Europa League this season.
However, the game wasn’t without drama. Late in extra time, Jarell Quansah scored an equaliser, but VAR stopped the play.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said, “They deserved to lose because they won pretty much all the important challenges and battles.” His team missed a chance to move on to the next round.
With seven points, Toulouse is now two points behind the Premier League team and three points ahead of St. Gilloise in third place in Group E.
Donnum jumped on Kostas Tsimikas after 36 minutes and stole the ball from him. He then scored through a deflection to give Toulouse the lead at halftime.
On 58 minutes, Dallinga took a touch in the box and drilled the ball past Caoimhin Kelleher for the second goal. This made the home team even more excited.
Cristian Casseres’ own goal in the 73rd minute gave Liverpool a chance to tie the game, but the home team quickly responded, helped by a loud crowd.
After three minutes, Kelleher couldn’t hold a hard-hit pass, and Magri was there to put Toulouse back ahead by two goals.
The second goal for Liverpool came from Diogo Jota, who came on for Diaz in the 89th minute.
The home team won the game in the end and earned three valuable points, but not before Quansah’s equaliser in the seventh minute of extra time was called out because of a handball call earlier in the play.
West Ham’s journey goes on.
Olympiakos lost to West Ham, who won the Europa Conference League last year. A goal by Lucas Paqueta in the 73rd minute was the only difference between the two teams.
“I’m very happy with the outcome. “We didn’t play as well as we’d have liked, but Olympiakos is a good team,” David Moyes, the boss of West Ham, told TNT Sports.
Once they win, they will be in either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League in the new year. With nine points, they are now in first place in Group A.
Because of the war between Israel and Hamas, the game had to be moved to Larnaca, Cyprus, where Villarreal beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0.
In Group B, Rennes beat Panathinaikos 3-1, and Marseille beat AEK Athens 2-0 to take the lead. Both teams are from France.
After beating Ajax 2-0 away in Group B, Brighton made it much more likely that they would make it to the next round.
Ansu Fati and Simon Adingra scored goals right before and after the break to give the Seagulls a famous win at the home of European kings.
With seven points, the Premier League team is now three points ahead of third-placed AEK Athens.
Rangers beat Sparta Prague 2-1 at home, with goals from Danilo and Todd Cantwell giving them an important three points.
First-placed Bayer Leverkusen of the Bundesliga beat Group H rivals Qarabag 1-0 in Baku to seal their spot in the next round.
They won their fourth straight game thanks to a penalty kick by Victor Boniface in the fourth minute of extra time in the second half.
Leverkusen and Atalanta, who beat Sturm Graz 1-0, have both qualified for the next round of the tournament. This means that both teams will at least make it to the play-offs for the knockout round.
Slavia takes over Rome
Roma’s 2-0 loss to Slavia Prague in Prague was the second biggest surprise of the night. Slavia Prague moved ahead of the Italians to first place in Group G.
“I have no idea how to explain this. He said, “I don’t know myself.” “I’ll be honest — Slavia extremely deserved to win and Roma extremely deserved to lose.”
Roma’s first loss of the season came from goals from Vaclav Jurecka in the 50th minute and Lukas Masopust 16 minutes from time. With nine points, Slavia is now in first place, tied with the guests.
This was the other game in the group. Servette beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1 thanks to a penalty kick by Chris Bedia in the 92nd minute.