The news of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota’s very sad passing has rocked the footballing world and beyond. The 28-year-old, alongside his brother, 26-year-old Andre Silva, were tragically killed in a road traffic accident in Spain in the early hours of Thursday, July 3.
On days such as this, it can be difficult to find the right words to express just how impactful and sad moments like this are. It is also difficult to sit at a desk and think about writing about anything else.
Hence why I thought it important to channel the energy that is there into discussing Diogo, even from my Arsenal perspective. These moments have a habit of uniting the football family to pay tribute from all the corners of the sport.
It would be fair to say that Diogo was a thorn in the side of the Gunners throughout his time in England, scoring eight times and assisting two more in his 16 appearances. Regardless of the talent in the Liverpool side he played for, it would be Jota’s name I would be looking out for when starting line-ups emerged knowing just how brilliant he could be on any day, but particularly when he was facing Arsenal.
Under Arsene Wenger’s watchful eye at the time, Arsenal were more than aware of his talents at a very young age before his eventual move to England. They scouted Diogo while he played Paços de Ferreira; however, he turned down offers from several clubs to join Atletico Madrid instead in 2016.
Speaking upon his arrival in the Spanish capital, he explained his decision: “Atletico’s way of presenting their offer seemed serious to me. The financial offer was the same as the others. I liked how the club’s owner went about it.”
It would not be until November of 2018 that Diogo would make his first appearance against the Gunners. Joining Wolves on loan from Atletico, Diogo came off the bench in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium while Unai Emery was then manager going up against Nuno Espirito Santo.
His next appearance though would be where he would announce himself truly as a real threat any time he would come up against Arsenal. His run and pass to Jonny Otto would lead to a foul from Nacho Monreal that subsequently allowed for a compatriot of Diogo, Ruben Neves, to step up and curl a strike beyond Bernd Leno.
It would be the first of three goals scored by Wolves, the third of which was scored by Diogo himself. Pouncing on a misplaced pass from Granit Xhaka, he drove down the left half-space, shrugging off Henrikh Mkhitaryan before striking left-footed, skipping past Sokratis Papastathopoulos before striking a left-footed effort too hard for Leno to prevent hitting the back of the net.
It would be performances like this that would vindicate Wolves’ decision from the January before to make the then-loan move permanent for just €14million (£12.3million). He would play against Arsenal two more times before the switch to Liverpool, a move that would be a concern for the Gunners knowing a rival was adding a Premier League-ready star and those worries would certainly become real.
He would play against Arsenal 12 times for the Reds, scoring seven times and assisting two further goals – an incredible record that dealt plenty of tough blows to the Gunners. Three of those goals would be scored in his first two games as Liverpool would win 3-1 at Anfield and 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in his first season under Jurgen Klopp.
His next season, though, would prove even more damaging for Arsenal. He scored in both league meetings again, a 4-0 win on Merseyside and a 2-0 victory again in north London. However, with Arsenal reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup, they would meet Liverpool again.
Diogo was able to run through on goal before being taken down by Xhaka, preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. Xhaka saw red, but Arsenal gave themselves some hope by keeping the score 0-0 at the full-time whistle.
Expectations were high for Arsenal taking a level score to the Emirates Stadium, but Diogo would put an end to that. He scored twice in a 2-0 win to take Liverpool to the League Cup final, a final that would go to a penalty shootout against Chelsea, where Diogo would confidently score his spot kick to help the Reds win 11-10 in the shootout.
Injuries would hit Diogo’s career somewhat, meaning he would miss several games against Mikel Arteta’s side in the subsequent years. There was no doubt though that Diogo, whenever on the field against the Gunners, was a massive goal threat.
His loss is a devastating blow to Liverpool, Portugal and the sport as a whole. We at football.london would like to send our thoughts and prayers to all those affected by the loss of Diogo and his brother Andre.
