Klopp happy to win the hard way
Late draw has Jose seething
Huddersfield – Jurgen Klopp suggested he had found a way to win “average matches” for the first time in his managerial career after Liverpool eked out an unconvincing 1-0 Premier League win at Huddersfield. This result ensured Liverpool finished Saturday level on points with leaders Manchester City after Mohamed Salah’s first-half goal, his 50th in English club football, proved enough to defeat their struggling opponents. Klopp has developed a reputation for building spectacular attacking teams, with Liverpool the second-highest scorers in last season’s Premier League, behind only champions Manchester City.
This season, however, they are only the joint-fourth highest scorers after nine matches, behind City, Chelsea and Arsenal, and level with Tottenham and Bournemouth. “It’s the first period in my life that we win kind of average matches,” said Klopp. “We cannot write a book tonight about to win trophies. But there is not one way to win football games. There are different ways. But sometimes I prefer the spectacular way.” Klopp acknowledged Liverpool were fortunate to win against a Huddersfield side, managed by his fellow German and long-standing friend David Wagner, and they may also have got a break in not conceding a penalty for James Milner’s handball.
“We were lucky with the handball maybe,” said Klopp. “It was a good game from Huddersfield and not so good game from us.” Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Ross Barkley scored in injury time to level the match at 2-2 after Manchester United’s Anthony Martial had scored twice in the second half to cancel out Antonio Rudiger’s opener. It was a bitter blow for under-pressure United boss José Mourinho, returning to his former club after a poor start to the season and he lost his cool in emotional scenes in the final seconds. Mourinho took exception to the celebrations of one of Chelsea’s backroom staff, Marco Ianni, who ran in front of the Portuguese on the touchline. “It was not celebrations, but bad education. But I also made mistakes.” –