Jurgen Klopp reserves special praise for one ‘frozen’ Liverpool star
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp reserved special praise for back-up keeper Adrian after the battling 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday.
The 10-man Reds held on to claim a “special” win over the Seagulls to put them 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after Manchester City drew at Newcastle earlier in the day.
Liverpool went into the final 15 minutes of the game two goals up thanks to a pair of first-half headers from Virgil van Dijk, but keeper Alisson was then shown a red card after he handled outside of his box, with Lewis Dunk taking the resulting free-kick quickly to beat substitute goalkeeper Adrian.
After the match, Klopp admitted: “Of course, life became more complicated with the red card and the change we had to make.
“We brought on a frozen goalkeeper, pretty much. Everybody sitting here is probably not really warm yet, and then you imagine you go on in shorts, a really thin shirt and some gloves which are not made for keeping you warm, and then, some people let the free-kick happen.
“You look a little bit silly in that moment, but that’s what you have to accept.”
Brighton piled on the pressure in the search for an equaliser, but Klopp’s men held on to claim a club record-equalling 14th consecutive Premier League home win.
Klopp added: “We kept on fighting and Adrian, especially, helped us a lot with two really, really good saves and crosses he caught… although with his cold feet he obviously couldn’t [kick] the ball as far as he wanted.
“That kept it a bit interesting, but in the end it’s only important that we won the game and that’s what we did, and I’m really pleased about that.”
