Klopp bemoans penalty call as he queries Liverpool defending

Jurgen Klopp felt his side were denied a clear penalty and urged Liverpool to defend better as the Reds were edged out 2-1 by Manchester United.

Two first-half strikes from Marcus Rashford helped United to victory against Liverpool, who found a route back into the game through Eric Bailly’s own goal in the second half.

However, Jose Mourinho’s side dug deep for the victory and Klopp was left to reflect on what might have been.

 “We have to defend these situations better,” he told Sky Sports about United’s opener. “You can always lose a header or a challenge with Romelu Lukaku of course but there is a gap in behind and we need to close that.”

Asked if his side had given themselves too much to do, Klopp continued: “The two goals made the game not easy, we had a lot of OK moments, two good moments in the first half where we could finish better.

“We didn’t score before half time and then in the second half we chased the game. It is really difficult to do against a team like Manchester United.

“It was a clear penalty with [Marouane] Fellaini on [Sadio] Mane, in situations like this you need the right decision.

“It is all about the result and we lost.”

“It was 2-0 down of course – not a good idea against Manchester United. Long balls to Lukaku and second situations. Lukaku is one of the best strikers in the world, we needed to be around to pick up the ball, we were not and Rashford could use the situation twice.

“We had opportunities to shoot from distance but we were not good enough, we did not score and had to chase the game in the second half. We did that, scored one and I think everyone agrees it was a penalty but that doesn’t help us now.

“It is very important [we bounce back] we have no time to waste.

“We chased the game in the second half and caused them problems but this is a result game and they have the result and we don’t.”

 

Van Dijk reaction

Virgil van Dijk, however, did admit Liverpool had given themselves a mountain to climb.

“We put ourselves in not a good position. I should have done better for the second one. I didn’t expect it. It was a deflection as well, so a bit unlucky as well.

“They gave us time, sat back – even at home – and hope for the best on the counter and that is what they did especially in the second half but we had already put ourselves in a bad position.

“We need to analyse what we did in the first half.”

 

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