Jurgen Klopp questioned the legitimacy of the second penalty decision that saw his Liverpool side being held to a 2-2 draw by Sunderland on Monday.
Liverpool were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light by Sunderland, thanks to two penalty decisions in favour of the home side, both of which were coolly converted by Jermain Defoe. The Reds grabbed the lead on two occasions only to be foiled by Defoe each time within minutes of taking the lead.
Klopp was asked as to what he thought about the penalty decisions and the German decided to give the journalist a piece of his mind regarding the legitimacy of the penalty decisions. While the first penalty was not debated in the post-match conference, the Liverpool managed discussed the second one and the free-kick that led to the penalty in the first place.
Klopp said,“ If you see it again, there was no contact. I saw it in the game, but that was the decision. It was not the worst mistake in the world, I don’t want to say it is. That’s why it feels so hard.”
The German was also asked as to how he felt about his side’s performance and how the game panned out overall.
“I thought we started really well and then we lost concentration,” he said.
“That’s not usual for us. But, of course, it happened before. It could be because of the fixtures, I’m not sure. Sunderland came a little bit into the game. It was clear at home it was difficult against Sunderland. [They have] a good transition game, especially with Defoe and Borini.”
Klopp also delivered his final verdict on the game saying that he felt frustrated at being on the wrong end of two refereeing decisions.
“ I must be honest, it doesn’t feel good. It’s not because of the point. It’s because of two penalties in the game. That was harsh and really hard to accept. But obviously I have to accept it, so I will.”
The point sees Liverpool cut Chelsea’s lead to five points at the top but the Blues have a chance of extending it to 8 points with a win at Tottenham. But, three points would have done the Reds a whole lot of good ahead of a crucial away game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
