Klopp: Dodgy offside call cost Reds big win
Frustrated Jurgen Klopp claimed Liverpool were robbed by a dodgy offside call.
The Reds thought they had taken the lead after 20 minutes when Roberto Firmino chipped the ball over keeper Bernd Leno and it came back off the post for Sadio Mane to tap in.
But Mane was flagged offside – although replays showed he was behind the Brazilian when the original shot was taken.
Klopp is adamant the linesman got it wrong and it proved costly as his side shipped a late leveller to Arsenal hitman Alexandre Lacazette following James Milner’s second-half opener.
The Kop boss said: “There’s only one person who can answer the question and that’s the linesman.
“You have one player in a slightly offside position and chip the ball and then the other one takes the bal l , that’s football all over the world. If the linesman sees it like that, good – it was not offside.
“And the second situation was not offside. If he thought the first situation was offside that would have been the wrong decision.
“We made more mistakes than the refs but in this situation it would have been cool if this goal would count.”
Liverpool had the best of a tight first half and Virgil van Dijk hit the woodwork as Arsenal got to the break unscathed. But they were undone in 61 minutes as Leno could only parry Mane’s cross into the path of Milner who rifled home.
Gunners piled forward in search of an equaliser and the pressure paid of f eight minutes from time. Lacazette wriggled free in the box before curling home superbly from a tight angle to rescue a draw that still sees Klopp’s men move top.
Arsenal are now 14 games unbeaten and boss Unai Emery said: “I’m only 50 per cent happy as we wanted to win. But our performance was good.”