Diogo Jota had been deep in conversation with Kostas Tsimikas as the Liverpool duo waited to come on at the City Ground.
The clock was ticking towards the midway point of the second half and Arne Slot’s side still trailed to Chris Wood’s first-half opener.
For all their possession, the Premier League leaders hadn’t produced a single attempt on target. They were crying out for some inspiration as in-form Nottingham Forest, who were chasing a seventh successive league victory for the first time since 1922, held firm.
Jota and Tsimikas had been reminiscing about how they had combined for Liverpool’s winner at the same venue in the sixth round of the FA Cup in March 2022.
“I was just saying: ‘Let’s do it now, recreate your assist, take the corner’,” Jota told TNT Sports. “It was one of those occasions when everything went right. I scored with my first touch, which I felt gave the team a bit of momentum. But I’m not happy because I think we could have won.”
Nottingham Forest 1 Liverpool 1 – Where does pulsating draw leave the title race?
Set pieces haven’t been a strong point for Liverpool so far this season, but Tsimikas’ delivery was perfect and Jota headed home his eighth goal of the campaign in all competitions. Talk about an instant impact.
It was the fastest goal scored by a Liverpool substitute on record in the Premier League era — the Portugal international celebrating just 22 seconds after entering the field. It was also Liverpool’s first league goal direct from a corner since Virgil van Dijk netted away to Arsenal in October.
If bringing on left-back Tsimikas for the struggling Andy Robertson was a no-brainer, Slot deserves credit for thinking outside the box and being bold (not for the first time this season) as Jota’s introduction in place of Ibrahima Konate led to Ryan Gravenberch dropping deeper as a makeshift centre-back.
“We brought an attacker in for a defender just to play even more attacking football than we already did because we needed a goal,” Slot explained. “Scoring from set pieces was not something I had in my mind when I brought the two of them in.”
Liverpool were a different proposition with Jota rather than Luis Diaz leading the line. The Colombian failed to have a shot on target in the 75 minutes he had on the pitch and, as his heatmap below shows, often found himself drifting into deeper positions rather than in central, high areas.
Jota, in contrast, buzzed around with intent and unsettled Forest’s defence with his movement and combative edge. But for the heroics of goalkeeper Matz Sels, he would have been the match-winner.
Despite only coming on in the 66th minute, Jota had more shots on target (three) than any of his team-mates. He provided the spark for that frenetic finale.
It’s been a difficult period for the former Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker, who hasn’t started a top-flight match since suffering a chest injury against Chelsea at Anfield in October.
After being sidelined for two months, he scored on his comeback off the bench when he salvaged a point for 10-man Liverpool against Fulham in mid-December.
However, some discomfort remained and Slot has managed him carefully since. Jota has had to be patient, but Tuesday night felt like a big step forward for him. He looked stronger and sharper.
“Diogo had a big impact when he came on against Fulham, but then after that game, he had a bit of a setback,” Slot said. “Then in the games he came in afterwards, I also felt he needed a bit more time to get into his rhythm. That’s not only with him, I see that with other players as well that were out for a few weeks or a few months. It is difficult to get this intensity going in Premier League games immediately.
“It was very pleasing to see tonight that he might even have been better than against Fulham. He had a big impact. He was the one, apart from Mo (Salah), who had a few chances to score a second goal.”
Darwin Nunez will come back into contention for Saturday’s trip to Brentford after serving a one-match suspension, but Jota deserves the opportunity to start. Playing Diaz through the middle has worked well at times, but the Colombian, who made way for Curtis Jones, struggled against Forest’s physicality and offered little threat.
Jota is without question the most complete No 9 at Slot’s disposal and keeping him fit and firing will go a long way to determining what Liverpool go on to achieve this season.
Diogo Jota: My game in my words
They remain in control of the Premier League title race, despite dropping points for the fourth time in their last seven league matches.
Liverpool’s frustration that they failed to find a winner was twinned with relief that they were returning home having avoided a damaging repeat of the defeat they suffered to Forest at Anfield in September.
The alarm bells were ringing during an erratic first-half display when some shoddy defending enabled Wood to fire Forest in front early on. Decision-making repeatedly let Liverpool down as so many promising openings came to nothing.
They looked rattled in the white-hot atmosphere of the City Ground. “We’re in your head, Arne,” chanted the home supporters, who were dreaming of a first league double over the Merseysiders since 1962-63.
Slot’s post-match assessment that it was “98 minutes of total domination” was certainly overly generous. Happy to let Liverpool have the ball and then counter when moves broke down, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were comfortable in the opening 45 minutes, with Sels having little to do.
But the second half was a different story as the visitors attacked with greater energy, quality, purpose and composure. The changes energised them. No club has gained more points from losing positions than Liverpool (14) in the Premier League so far this season and you have to admire the powers of recovery.
By the end, the stats suggested a mismatch: Liverpool’s expected goals (xG) was 1.99 versus 0.31, 23 shots to six, seven on target to three, 52 touches in the opposition box to 17, and 71 per cent possession. Forest didn’t muster a single shot after the 63rd minute. They were hanging on by the end.
However, Liverpool will be kicking themselves that they took so long to hit their stride. It was Jota who brought them to life.
(Top photo: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
