Klopp lashes out at interviewer after Liverpool derby draw

Oli Fisher

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was visibly fuming in his post-match interview as his side threw away a late lead in the Merseyside derby.

Wayne Rooney’s penalty earned the visitors a battling 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Mo Salah’s stunning strike had given a dominant Reds side the lead at the break and, after the home side squandered a number of chances to make the game safe, Rooney struck from the spot after Dejan Lovren’s nudge on Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the area.

Klopp told Sky Sports: “Can we please stop this? I am not in the mood. I only want to talk to people with some understanding of football.”

He continued: “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. You see the picture of the penalty. Calvert-Lewin is smart but it is nothing. But it is a penalty and one team can celebrate and we can’t.

“I don’t understand why the ref is doing that [give the penalty]. I didn’t use one swear word. 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.”

“Lovren doesn’t make a challenge. Calvert-Lewin makes a step. The hand is on the back. If you think it is a penalty say so. Does my opinion change anything?

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“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 also defended his decision to take Salah off rather than leave him on in hope of securing a vital second goal.

“That is my job. I make decisions that I think are right. It is your job to say afterwards if it is right. We lived more or less in their box. We could have scored earlier. I have to live with that.”