A controversial video assistant referee decision denied Liverpool a stoppage-time equaliser as they suffered a surprise Europa League loss to Toulouse.
Jarell Quansah’s goal to make it 3-3 in the seventh minute of added time was ruled out after Alexis Mac Allister was judged to have handled the ball.
Quansah slammed in from close range to spark wild Liverpool celebrations and furious protestations from Toulouse before Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov was called to the VAR screen – having already appeared to point to the centre circle.
The ball had bounced off Mac Allister’s chest into his upper arm much earlier in the move, which was ruled enough to disallow the goal.
Toulouse impressed for much of the match and went 2-0 up though strikes from Aron Donnum and Thijs Dallinga.
Liverpool pulled one back through a bizarre own goal from Cristian Casseres Jr, but Frank Magri restored the French side’s two-goal advantage.
Substitute Diogo Jota then scored for Liverpool with two minutes of normal time left and they thought they had earned a point with virtually the final kick of the match, before VAR’s intervention.
Impressive Toulouse earn famous win
Among the nine players to come into the Liverpool XI was Luis Diaz. After a difficult 12 days following the kidnap of his parents in Colombia, he started this game knowing his father was safe having “wanted” to play, according to Klopp.
Having scored a dramatic late equaliser against Luton, Diaz was full of effort once again in France. On 26 minutes, he hammered a low shot which Restes gathered at the second attempt.
But it summed up Liverpool’s first half showing – dominant, but lacking end product.
This gave Toulouse a much-needed confidence boost. They had not won in five matches, and had been beaten by Liverpool in three previous meetings.
But fired up by a fervent home crowd, they rode out the Liverpool storm, grabbed their opportunity and were subsequently the better team.
Despite Liverpool bringing on the big guns, Dallinga found the net three times after the interval. His first was ruled out after he fouled Joel Matip and the third was offside, but his second was just right.
Following Dallinga’s disallowed goals, Liverpool suffered the same fate – albeit in much more dramatic circumstances.