Liverpool ace Diogo Jota hailed by BBC's Glenn Murray in win over Forest

Liverpool star Diogo Jota earned praise from BBC Sport pundit Glenn Murray for his efforts against Nottingham Forest.

Saturday afternoon saw the Reds lock horns in a 3pm kickoff at Anfield.

Neither side could break the deadlock by half-time, with Forest doing a good job of frustrating Liverpool.

Jota then opened the scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the 47th minute, nodding home from point-blank range.

Neco Williams quickly drew Forest level against his former club, netting via a deflection on 51 minutes.

However, the City Ground outfit was only level for four minutes as Jota made it two against the visitors.

Forest’s defence was caught napping from a Liverpool free kick, with the £140,000-a-week ace comfortably onside.

He timed his run well, controlled the ball and fired low across Keylor Navas.

Murray, speaking on Final Score, loved what he saw from Jota but questioned what the Forest defence was doing.

“He’s got brilliant awareness, Diogo Jota,” said Murray, via the BBC Sport website.

“But from a Forest point of view, where was the defending?

“It’s brilliant skill by Jota but there isn’t a Forest man near him.”

Midway through the second half, Steve Cooper’s charges restored parity once again.

With the help of a deflection off Ibrahima Konate, Morgan Gibbs-White volleyed home on 67 minutes.

And once again, Liverpool didn’t need long to edge themselves in front. Just three minutes, in fact.

A Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick fell to Mohamed Salah, who held off his marker and fired in off the post.

Forest couldn’t come back once again as Liverpool held on for all three points in an entertaining 3-2 win.

‘Made amends’

Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo gave Jota an 8 out of 10 rating for his efforts on the day.

‘Missed big chance first half with free header at far post,’ he began.

‘But made amends with poacher’s first and a great finish for second. Subbed.’

Meanwhile, Whoscored.com gave Jota the highest rating out of all the Liverpool players (8.19).

They deemed him the second-best player of the match, with Forest’s Gibbs-White getting 8.45.