Gaffer Klopp’s Ever so angry over spot-kick
LIVERPOOL..1 EVERTON..1
RAGING Jurgen Klopp lashed out at a TV reporter and Everton official after seeing his side blow their lead in the Mersey derby.
The Liverpool boss was furious at referee Craig Pawson’s decision to award their bitter rivals a late penalty when Dominic CalvertLewin went down under a challenge from Dejan Lovren.
Wayne Rooney slotted in the spot-kick to cancel out Mo Salah’s first-half opener and hand the Toffees an unlikely point.
Asked about the penalty by a Sky interviewer, Klopp initially asked the reporter what he thought.
When the response was not to his liking, he said sarcastically: “Ha ha! We can stop the interview because I only want to speak with someone who has a little bit of understanding of football.”
The German, whose players completely dominated against Sam Allardyce’s defensive side, also took aim at an Everton employee he spotted while conducting his post-match media conference.
He broke off from the questions to shout: “Are you happy about your game?” The reply was positive, suggesting Everton were happy with their point.
But Klopp hit back: “That’s what my mother said when I came home from school.”
Klopp fumed as he felt CalvertLewin stepped into Lovren to create the contact for the penalty.
He said: “Calvert-Lewin makes a step in front of Lovren. But Dejan doesn’t push him, it’s just body contact. That happens 70 times in midfield and there is no free-kick.”
Klopp defended his team selection after leaving two of his “Fab Four” – Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino – on the bench.
He said: “I thought before the game, yes. After the game, still yes. Even when the result doesn’t show it. We’ve done it like this for seven weeks or so.”
By contrast a delighted Rooney showed his true Blue colours by claiming his penalty equaliser was one of the best goals of his career.
He stepped up to score his first Mersey derby goal in his second spell at the club.
Lifelong fan Rooney scored from the halfway line against West Ham two weeks ago – but said his strike from 12 yards against the Mersey rivals on their home patch was every bit as satisfying.
Asked where it ranked among his goals he said: “It’s right up there! All I kept thinking was ‘You can’t miss this penalty… you just can’t!’ It was such a big moment in the game.
“Lovren kicked the ball away so I was walking over to get it and I was just trying to compose myself. I was delighted with it. I was just as delighted with the character that we showed because physically, for the whole team, it was a difficult game.”