LIVERPOOL MANAGER JURGEN Klopp accepted he “went over the top” and “lost it” so fully deserved his red card in his side’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
The Reds boss was furious referee Anthony Taylor had not given a foul on goalscorer Mohamed Salah by Bernardo Silva late in the game but his anger, also directed at the assistant referee just yards from the incident, saw him dismissed from the touchline.
Anfield’s technical area had been a fiery place, with City boss Pep Guardiola apoplectic that Phil Foden’s earlier goal had been overturned by Taylor after VAR advised him to view the pitchside monitor for an Erling Haaland foul on Fabinho in the build-up.
“This is Anfield, every time you come here lately unfortunately this is Anfield,” said the Catalan.
What Klopp said to the officials remains unclear but it was enough to see him instantly dismissed.
“The red card was my fault. I went over the top in the moment but I don’t think I was disrespectful to anyone,” said the Reds boss.
“When you look at the pictures back I know myself at 55 years old the way I look in these moments is already worth a red card.
“I lost it in that moment and that is not OK but a little bit of an excuse. I would like to mention how can you not whistle that foul? How on earth is that possible?”
Taylor had allowed the players something of a free rein in the game as he tried to play advantage as often as he could but occasionally that was the wrong decision in a high-tempo, high stakes game.
“I heard now that people said it was Anfield that made the VAR decision,” added Klopp.
“With a foul on Mo, Anfield had no chance to make any impact. It’s a foul on Fabinho (in the lead up to Foden’s goal), I think we agree on that. Is it not enough to pull somebody down?
“Then Ali (goalkeeper Alisson Becker) has the hand on the ball (before Haaland frees it), so that’s a save how I understand it.
“So there was already the first moment where Pep and I were pretty animated but actually for the same reason to be 100 per cent honest.
“We were not arguing with each other, not at all. Then that situation (with Salah) I just had the perfect view and the linesman, and you can imagine we are 1-0 up and we have a free-kick there or a counter-attack there.
“That is pretty much a 100 per cent difference and that was when I snapped and again I am not proud of that, but it happened.”
Victory was a much-needed shot in the arm for Liverpool’s confidence and their season, which has been erratic so far.
They have generally been defensively weak but found the resilience when they needed it to halt a City side that had previously won 10 and drawn three of their competitive matches, having lost to Liverpool in the FA Community Shield.
“You have to play to your limits and further, that’s what we did,” added Klopp. “We defended in an extremely well organised but very passionate way, closed the right gaps, challenged in the right areas.
“But they still get through. They still get to the touchline, they still have an incredible amount of players in the box and how we defended the box, and especially the six-yard box, was absolutely exceptional because I think we all know City have the square pass and one (player) is waiting free in front of the goal.
“It was a top performance from all the boys and that’s why we could win it.”
Guardiola was also unhappy with Taylor’s performance, but did not use that as an excuse for their first competitive defeat of the season.
“The referee spoke with my assistant and Jurgen and said he was not going to make fouls unless it was clear. All the game it was ‘play on’ and ‘play on’ – except the goal we scored,” Guardiola said.
“Then after it was not ‘play on’. The referee can decide to whistle all the actions but he decided not to, then he did.
“But we didn’t lose the game for that. Nobody knows what would have happened but it was a moment when we had momentum and control. After we lost because of a mistake.
“We didn’t follow the transition when Alisson played quick, Joao (Cancelo) lost the duel and then it is always difficult with Salah.
“This is what we have to learn for the future. But the way we played, the performance and courage was fantastic.
“They shout, you have to shout more. They run, you have to run more. Otherwise it is impossible to handle it in this stadium.
“We did that but football is football.”
