Klopp takes title setback in stride
Jurgen Klopp refused to be downhearted despite his annoyance at being denied a strong second-half penalty claim in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Leicester at Anfield on Wednesday.
The result, coming 24 hours after Premier League title rivals Manchester City was beaten at lowly Newcastle, saw Klopp’s team extend its lead over City at the top of the standings to five points.
It could have been seven points after Sadio Mane gave Liverpool an early lead, only for Harry Maguire to score a dramatic equalizer in first-half injurytime.
To exacerbate Klopp’s unhappiness, Maguire was cautioned just six minutes earlier for a foul on Mane when the Liverpool striker appeared ready to break clear on goal.
Referee Martin Atkinson deemed that foul worth only a yellow card, and compounded his “crime” in the eyes of home fans when he did not award Liverpool a second-half penalty following what appeared to be Ricardo Pereira’s trip on Naby Keita.
“The 1-1 result is OK even though everybody agrees it should have been a penalty,” said Klopp. “I don’t know why it wasn’t.
“I don’t know what he (Atkinson) saw in this moment because he had the best position. There was no blood involved but, still, it was a penalty.”
The Liverpool manager, looking to bring the English title to Anfield for the first time in 29 years, continued: “But he doesn’t want to give it, and we can’t tell him to come and look at it again.
“I think we agree it was a penalty. Very often I stand here when we got a penalty and have to defend it.
“But we had the situation with Maguire. I am not the referee, I am the manager, I am not sure, is it smart what he is doing?
“I would say it is a 100 percent scoring chance at least that is something — a situation where there is a scoring chance that tells the ref he has to give a red card.”
The evening started in perfect fashion for Liverpool as Mane scored its fastest league goal in nearly three years, with just two minutes elapsed, only for Maguire to snipe the equalizer on the stroke of halftime.
“We have a point more than before,” said Klopp. “That is not exactly what we wanted to have but, everything is fine at the moment.”