LONDON: Luis Diaz came off the substitutes’ bench to rescue a Premier League point for Liverpool in a 1-1 draw at struggling Luton

. Diaz, who continues to await news about his kidnapped father in Colombia, stretched to reach a pass from Harvey Elliott and the ball skidded into goal off his shoulder. The 26-year-old lifted his shirt to reveal a T-shirt bearing the words: “Libertad para Papa.”

Liverpool had only themselves to blame for the failure to win and overtake Arsenal to go third in the table.

They dominated possession but Darwin Nunez hit the bar in the first half and missed an open goal in the second. Dutch midfielder Tahith Chong put Luton ahead on an 80th-minute counter-attack. That prompted Jurgen Klopp to send for Diaz. Klopp had earlier been shown a yellow card for dissent after Liverpool had a penalty claim rejected.

At the final whistle Luton’s players all went to Diaz to express their concern for his father.

Villa beaten

A mistake by Emi Martinez, hailed as the world’s top goalkeeper in the Ballon d’Or awards, helped end Aston Villa’s six-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Martinez was surprised by the power of a shot from Orel Mangala at start of the second half in a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest and palmed the ball which dropped over the line.

Ola Aina had given Forest a fifth-minute lead with his first goal for the club.

Villa’s defeat was their first the league since defeat at Liverpool on September 3. Manager Unai Emery said: “It is very hard to accept this result. This match was a challenge to get among the top four teams so there is still work to do to correct the mistakes we made today.”

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