Diogo Jota on Arsenal win, making an impact and Trent's 'unreal' cross
Diogo Jota stated his intention to always impact Liverpool’s performance positively after he came off the bench to score twice in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Arsenal.
The forward was named among the substitutes at Emirates Stadium following his exertions for Portugal during the international break.
And he was instantly influential after being introduced on the hour, as he powered in a header from a superb Trent Alexander-Arnold cross to give the Reds a richly deserved lead.
Mohamed Salah added a second just a few minutes later, before Jota lashed in his second of the game from close range in the closing stages as Jürgen Klopp's team moved to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Post-match, the No.20 was interviewed by Sky Sports. Read on for a transcript…
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On the importance of the performance and result in the race for the top four…
Very important. I said after the last game, to think about higher spots in the table we need to do our job [which] is to win every single game until the end. If we do that I think we have a chance to be there… I think if we do our job we have a high chance to be there because it is very hard to win in the Premier League. Today we did our job, let’s go to the next one.
On his prowess in the air…
Sometimes you go a long time without certain types of goals, but the most important thing is that I was there to make a difference and that’s what I want to do always.
On Alexander-Arnold’s delivery for his first goal…
Unreal! I think, not just him, we have very good crossers in the team. We need to take advantage of that. Today it worked and I hope it can work in the future as well. Everything [made the delivery excellent]. I just timed my run so it made it a lot easier for me to finish.
On his impact from the bench…
It doesn’t matter if you start in the starting XI or on the bench, you need to be ready to make an impact. That’s what I did today and that’s what I want to do always.
On the team’s all-round display…
To be honest I was expecting a bit more possession from Arsenal, they usually do that. But that showed that we pressed really well, we didn’t allow them to have that possession and in the end we controlled the game with the ball and with the goal.
On the feeling heading into Tuesday’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid…
It’s really important. It’s another clean sheet, [which] is really important as well. Everyone is working hard and well and now we have that hard game against Real and we want to do that as well.