KLOPP: REF MISTAKES COST US
JURGEN KLOPP insisted that refereeing errors cost his side dearly as Sunderland twice came from behind to secure a point. Klopp’s Liverpool were 2-1 up approaching the final five minutes when Anthony Taylor awarded the hosts a free-kick after Jermain Defoe fell under the challenge of Lucas Leiva. Liverpool striker Sadio Mane — scorer of his side’s second goal — handled from Seb Larsson’s subsequent deadball effort and Defoe netted his second of the afternoon from the spot. But an irate Klopp said: ‘It is tough for me to accept. If there is no free-kick, there is no handball. And there was no foul for the free-kick. I saw it again and there was no contact. ‘It was also 100 per cent a foul on Daniel Sturridge (at the other end). It was a similar situation and we would have had a chance to shoot at somebody’s arm. Obviously we didn’t get that chance.’ Earlier, Taylor had given a penalty when Didier Ndong went down as he attempted to drive past Ragnar Klavan inside the area. Defoe slotted home to cancel out Daniel Sturridge’s opener. Klopp said: ‘Ndong jumps in the box. It’s a penalty because the referee decides it was. I must be honest, it doesn’t feel good. Sunderland got a point because of two penalties.’ David Moyes, meanwhile, hit back at Klopp after he had called Sunderland ‘the most defensive team I’ve ever seen’ when Liverpool won 2-0 at Anfield in November. ‘I’m feeling we weren’t too defensive today,’ he said. ‘I honestly thought the players raised the supporters by the way they got up to Liverpool, how they put them under pressure, how they pressed them. Maybe if I was a German manager you might praise that.’