Diogo Jota hits a hat-trick as Liverpool thump Atalanta

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Alex Young @alexwsyoung3 November 2020

Diogo Jota scored a hat-trick as Liverpool thumped Atalanta in the Champions League.

Jota fully justified his inclusion by maintaining his impressive goalscoring run in the 16th minute.

The former Wolves forward had seen his early shot placed too close to goalkeeper Marco Sportiello but made no mistake when a second chance fell to him.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's through-ball allowed Jota to get the wrong side of Jose Luis Palomino and as the goalkeeper advanced he dinked a shot into the net.

Jota's dream night continued with a brilliant second in the 33rd minute.

Controlling Joe Gomez's long diagonal ball with his first touch, the Portuguese hammered a shot inside Sportiello's right-hand post with his second.

Liverpool took the game away from their hosts with two goals within four minutes of the start of the second half.

Mohamed Salah made it 3-0 with a breakaway from an Atalanta corner in a goal reminiscent of the one he scored against Arsenal in August 2019, racing half the length of the pitch as he ran on to Curtis Jones' pass before cutting back onto his left foot when he reached the penalty area.

And then Salah turned provider for Sadio Mane to chip over Sportiello for the Reds' fourth goal.

Jota then completed his hat-trick, running onto Mane’s through ball and rounding the keeper. It was Liverpool’s third goal inside the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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