Diogo Jota insists he’d “rather put the ball in the net” than win a penalty after being criticised by Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.
The row between Jota and Shearer started following Liverpool’s 4-2 win against Newcastle on New Year’s Day. Jota won a late penalty in the thrilling Premier League contest after going round Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and eventually hitting the deck.
Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, but the decision divided opinion among pundits. There appeared to be minimal contact between Dubravka and Jota – and it took a second for the latter to go down. “F****** embarrassing,” wrote Shearer on X.
“What a great dive that is,” added the former England striker, accompanied by laughing emojis. Ian Wright was also critical of Jota. The Arsenal icon wrote on X: “(Jota) would rather go down for a penalty than put the ball in an empty net! Seen it all!”
Yet Jota has now hit back at his critics. The Portugal international spoke about the controversial penalty before Liverpool’s 4-0 victory at Bournemouth on Sunday. Jota scored a brace in that game, as strike partner Darwin Nunez also found the net twice.
“Listen, of course I saw some comments from ex-players and people who are paid to talk about situations,” said Jota, as quoted by the Liverpool ECHO. “The only thing I can say is even the keeper said it was a touch and I didn’t feel the conditions to stay up.
“So that’s it. Would I rather put the ball in the net than see Mo (Salah) take a penalty? Yes, of course. That’s what I like to do – to score goals. That’s all I have to say.”
But regardless of what the critics think, there’s no disputing Jota’s role in Liverpool’s title bid. The forward has often struggled with injuries during his three-and-a-half-year spell on Merseyside, but he’s still managed 52 goals in 135 games for the Reds.
Thanks to Jota’s heroics against Bournemouth, Liverpool are five points clear of Manchester City in second, Arsenal in third and Aston Villa in fourth – although City have a game in hand. Jamie Carragher was full of praise for Jota after his latest masterclass.
Carragher told Sky Sports: “I’ve played with some great Liverpool strikers like Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Robbie Fowler… I think he (Jota) is the best finisher out of them. Robbie maybe in terms of pure finishing, but this game was typical Jota.
“He’s so clinical and he sums up Liverpool’s recruitment… because sometimes there’s great players out there that you have to go and buy, but he was in and out of the Wolves team and people were scratching their heads about it. But they saw him as a steal.”
