David Lynch has been reminiscing about the Liverpool career of Diogo Jota, whose life was tragically cut short last Thursday at the age of just 28.
The world of football has been united in mourning for him and his brother Andre Silva, who both died in a car crash in the Spanish province of Zamora, with a sea of tributes being laid outside Anfield in honour of the two men.
The last three months of Diogo’s life were filled with special memories on and off the pitch, having won the Premier League with the Reds and the UEFA Nations League with Portugal before marrying his long-time partner Rute Cardoso just over two weeks ago.
David Lynch picks out ‘most perfect’ Jota goal
Lynch was speaking with Anfield Index as he reflected on the five years that Jota had as a Liverpool player, with the last of his 65 goals for the club being the Merseyside derby winner at Anfield in April of this year.
The journalist pinpointed that strike as a particularly special memory of the forward, saying: “There’s so many brilliant memories of him, as someone who loved a goal in a big game.
“That Everton goal might be the most perfect last goal that anyone could score in their career… I could not think of a more Jota goal and I will always cherish that one.”
Jota’s last-ever goal was indeed a special one
It’s with good reason that Lynch picked out that as perhaps the ‘most perfect’ goal to sum up Diogo Jota, and not just because it was the last he ever scored or because it won the Merseyside derby at a time when Liverpool had been experiencing a slight wobble in the spring.
Everything about it – from the determination to pinch the ball off James Garner, to jinking past two Everton players before emphatically dispatching the finish beyond Jordan Pickford – characterised our number 20 as a footballer.
The endeavour to win the ball and then the composure to glide into the penalty area and provide an ice-cold finish…that was Diogo Jota to a tee.
At the time it was celebrated as a crucial goal to enable Liverpool to make a huge statement on their way to winning the Premier League title, and it has now taken on far greater significance as the last one ever scored by a player whose life has ended much too soon.
It doesn’t feel right that we’ll never again get to see such moments of brilliance from our number 20, but we’re sure that the teammates he’s left behind will do him proud once the new season begins in August.
