I regret my celebration after Origi late show, says Klopp
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp described the way he celebrated Divock Origi’s dramatic winner as “not cool” following the 1-0 Merseyside derby victory over Everton at Anfield.
Klopp ran onto the pitch to celebrate with Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker when substitute Origi punished a mistake by Jordan Pickford by heading home in stoppage time.
The German said he had subsequently apologised to his Everton counterpart Marco Silva — something Silva claimed had not been the case.
Klopp said: “Immediately after the game I apologised to Marco Silva when we spoke. I told him how much I respect his work, because it’s incredible what he has done with that team. They are just an outstanding side.
“Derbies are always difficult but this was a completely different difficult to the last few years.
“What can I say? I didn’t want to run. It was not my plan. I didn’t want to run — I couldn’t stop. Not cool, but it happened.
“The more important things happened during the 95 minutes. Again, all my respect for Everton, really good. Both teams delivered a proper fight, a proper derby from the first second.”
Silva said: “He didn’t apologise to me. All of your colleagues have asked me about the situation but I didn’t see it. I don’t know what he did and the way he did it.
“It was a lucky day for him but that is football. I cannot say it was disrespectful because I didn’t see it, maybe when I see that moment I can speak more.”
The goal came when Pickford attempted to tip a sliced effort from Virgil van Dijk over, only to send the ball bouncing against the bar and towards Origi.
Silva said when asked about the England goalkeeper, who had done well to deny Xherdan Shaqiri in the first half: “What I told him will stay between us.
“What I can tell you, like we started the match all together, like we have been working since the first day all together, we finished the match all together. LIVERPOOL: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Shaqiri (Keita, 71 mins), Firmino (Origi, 84 mins), Mane, Salah (Sturridge, 75 mins). Unused subs: Milner, Moreno, Mignolet, Matip.
EVERTON: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Walcott (Lookman, 63 mins),
“He did really well until that moment and it is something no one expected. It is easy to understand how the stadium celebrated the goal in the last minute.”
He added: “I know the main thing is always the result but I am proud of our players. We didn’t deserve it and it was a lucky, lucky day for Liverpool.”
Klopp, who admitted the goal was “a bit lucky”, expressed his delight for Origi.
The forward sustained a nasty Andre Gomes, Gueye, Bernard (Calvert-Lewin, 89 mins), Sigurdsson (Zouma, 90 mins), Richarlison. Unused subs: Baines, Tosun, Stekelenburg, Davies. Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire) Man of the match: Sadio Mane
Match rating: 6/10
ankle injury in a Merseyside derby in April 2016 via a tackle from Ramiro Funes Mori.
Klopp said of the Belgian, who was making only his second Liverpool appearance since being on loan at Wolfsburg last season: “I said it to him when I sent him on. I’ve never forgotten it.
“Fouls and harsh tackles happen, but in his case it was a break in his development.
“At that time he was outstanding. After that, it took a long time before he felt absolutely nothing.
“It all changed a little bit (for him), you lose confidence. So it was always in my mind. Now he can finish that book and from now on everything will be fine.”
Toffees keeper Pickford apologised to fans for his blunder.
“Sorry to the Everton fans again, I know how much it means to them,” said the 24-yearold. “As players, we know how much it means to us. You make mistakes every now and again.
“The ball spun and as I tried to flick it over, my hand hit the bar. I think it is the Everton luck when we come to Anfield.
“It’s not something you can learn and train and get better from. It’s just a freak incident.
“There is always a case as a goalkeeper, if you make an error it will lead to a goal. Unfortunately, it has been me.
“There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m strong mentally
Top job: Jurgen Klopp
embraces Divock Origi and I will get over it. I will be ready for Newcastle on Wednesday.” MAURIZIO Sarri blamed nerves for Chelsea’s underwhelming performance in a 2-0 win over Premier League bottom club Fulham.
Pedro struck after four minutes after N’Golo Kante had dispossessed Jean Michael Seri — a passage of play described as a “present” by Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri.
But Chelsea’s second came late on through substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek, as Sarri lamented the failure to “kill” the contest.
“After the 1-0 the players on the pitch had a very good level of application, attention, but without trying to kill the match,” Sarri said.
“We needed to kill the match before (we did). But I think today we were a little bit tense.”
Chelsea responded from their first loss of the competitive season, a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham ending an 18-game unbeaten streak, by beating PAOK Salonika on Thursday and following up by beating their west London rivals.
Sarri stressed the result was more important than the performance, having criticised his players’ display at Wembley.
The Blues boss deflected the suggestion his comments may have contributed to any tension.
“I think in Tottenham 11 players played very badly and so I thought that today it was natural to give them another chance,” Sarri added.
“Of course, it wasn’t easy the days after Tottenham, for me, for the players. We lost a match after three months and a half. It can happen.” Sarri added.
Former Chelsea and Leicester boss Ranieri was taking charge of Fulham for only the second time.
He felt the performance was better than his first, a 3-2 win over Southampton, but rued the early concession of a goal.
“It’s strange to say, but I think we played much better today than in the Southampton match,” said Ranieri, whose side next face Leicester, with whom he won an improbable Premier League title in 2016.