Advertisement
Martin Rickett

Klopp in ref rage as Liverpool's derby dominance fails to pay off

“I only want to speak to people with a little bit of understanding about football,” said the Liverpool boss.

LIVERPOOL MANAGER JURGEN Klopp slammed referee Craig Pawson for the controversial penalty decision that allowed Everton to escape with a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby on Sunday.

Klopp was furious that Pawson awarded a 77th-minute spot-kick for Dejan Lovren’s barge into Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Wayne Rooney converted the penalty to claim his first Merseyside derby goal and cancel out Mohamed Salah’s superb first-half opener.

“I don’t understand why the ref is doing that. Lovren doesn’t make a challenge. Calvert-Lewin makes a step. The hand is on the back,” Klopp said in a tetchy television interview.

“If you think it is a penalty say so. Does my opinion change anything? I only want to speak to people with a little bit of understanding about football. I am sorry, I am wrong and you are right. Obviously I am not in the mood to answer questions.”

Klopp’s surprise decision to rest in-form forwards Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino back-fired, but the German refused to accept any blame, opting to criticise Everton for a defensive display.

“Only one team is trying over 95 minutes to win it. The other team are not in our box and didn’t have a shot on target bar the penalty,” he said.

“Our performance was good. We didn’t score often enough. I saw only one team playing. I can’t believe the situation with all the challenges. We were clean and didn’t make any fouls. There is always one nasty one — Sigurdsson made that. A clear red card.”

On his team changes, Klopp added: “Twenty-one days, seven games. We can push them through until one is injured and then people say the squad is not deep enough. The players who came on did a brilliant job.”

– © AFP 2017

Late Rooney penalty snatches unlikely derby draw for Everton at Anfield

As it happened: Liverpool v Everton, Premier League

Author
AFP
View 38 comments
Close
38 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel