Football

Ronaldo’s advice for Jota during Liverpool goal drought

April 18, 2023 11:34 am

Diogo Jota was a standout performer on his arrival at Anfield. He contributed 13 goals in his first campaign with the Reds and 21 in the next. The same cannot be said about him in a Liverpool shirt this season.

While laying down four assists, including the one for Salah’s opener against Manchester City, the Portuguese had struggled to open his goalscoring account. However, he has finally broken the duck with a brace against Leeds United.

The Whites were humbled 6-1 at Elland Road and Joto joined in on the fun. It allowed them to solidify their European ambitions while Leeds continue to hover around the relegation slots.

Liverpool hit Leeds for six

There was pressure on Jurgen Klopp’s men to deliver after going winless in their last five matches. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the process and saw Brighton and Aston Villa overtake them in the battle for the top six.

This was their first win since their 7-0 hammering of Manchester United and will rightfully inject them with a rejuvenated spirit. With eight matches remaining until the end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign, Liverpool has given the right warning shot to their rivals.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring after 35 minutes with Mo Solah doubling their lead after four minutes. After Leeds had reduced the deficit two minutes into the second period, it seemed the relegation-threatened outfit would get something out of the meeting.

Diogo Jota

It would not be the case as the Reds upped the tempo and were rewarded for their efforts. Jota resumed their two-goal cushion with his season’s opener. Salah’s brace would make it 1-4 while the Portuguese’s double effort saw the scoreboard read 1-5. Darwin Nunez replaced the Egyptian King and hit the back of the net in the 90th minute to seal the affair 1-6.

Ronaldo’s advice rings true

Question marks about Jota’s ability had been raised. Injuries had marred his rise in Liverpool’s lore and it was more evident this campaign as the likes of Luis Diaz entrenched themselves in the rafters.

The Portuguese had reached out to compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo for advice while on international duty. Ronaldo told Jota that the goals will come like ‘opening a ketchup bottle.” The response seems to have ring true as the 26-year-old finished the night with a brace to his name.

Jota shared that Ronaldo had told him that after the first one, others will follow suit and pointed at the doubling of his season tally in one game.

“When the first drop comes out, everything comes out”.

“That’s one of the sentences Ronaldo said and it really stuck in my mind all these years,” Jota remarked. “I think football is unpredictable, and these are the things we like in this football game. Things can change very quick.”

“We have great results this season, great scorelines – 7-0, 9-0. So we have these results before but we just need to stick with our feet on the ground because the next one is a completely different game.”

“I think especially second half we played really well although we conceded that goal,” Jota said. “We kept possession a lot of the time, we tried to find ourselves in good positions. We scored great goals and deserved the win.”

“Some games we looked really good and others we cannot really click, especially away from home. But that is part of the past and what we can do is do things like tonight – improve, and do games like this because we are able to.”

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