Klopp hits out after Kompany avoids red for lunge on Salah

FURIOUS Jurgen Klopp last night claimed that Vincent Kompany’s lunge at Mo Salah could have finished the Egyptian’s season.

The Manchester City captain overstretched after John Stones had misplaced a pass in midfield before the break, clattering into Salah as the Liverpool forward looked set to run in on goal.

Klopp was left in no doubt referee Anthony Taylor should have shown him a red card, which would have changed the complexion of this titanic title fight.

‘I like Vincent Kompany, but how on earth is that not a red card?’ raged Klopp. ‘He is last man and he goes in. If he hits Mo more, then he is out for the season. It is not easy for the ref and he may not see it how I see it.

‘Vincent is such a fantastic player, I loved him when he was at Hamburg, but a player makes a decision and goes to the ground. If Mo is on his feet, we all know what happens. Look, he (Kompany) is still a nice guy, but this was a really bad decision. If Mo can go through, come on, what happens then?

‘When we were here last year, we got a red card and nobody thought about it. Sadio (Mane) didn’t want to do that for a second, but he hit him (City goalkeeper Ederson). Look at it and make your own opinion.’

Klopp suggested Liverpool’s lack of recent title-winning experience means they are still not confident of holding off City’s challenge after Pep Guardiola’s side reduced the gap to four points.

Liverpool are looking to win their first title since 1990 and, while Klopp has ‘so much faith’ in his squad, he admitted City are more accustomed to the pressure.

‘If someone had told me after both games against Manchester City, we were four points clear, I would have paid money for it,’ said Klopp (right). ‘I didn’t think it would be possible. Football is like this. If we win this and are ten points ahead and from that point win no games, then nothing happens.

‘If we had won the title five times in the last ten years, yes, but we don’t have it.

‘We have never won it as a team, so we want to finish the season as good as possible.

‘It is all fine for us. Not in the moment, it feels really bad, but it is only a moment. Then we have an opportunity to work on it.

‘I thought City had more situations where they controlled the game, but we had some as well. At the end, the post in or post out can make a massive difference.

‘We had really big chances in the second half with no counter-attacks involved. Fantastic saves from Ederson. We lost — we have to take that. It is not cool but it is one of the three results that could happen. It is the one we didn’t want.’

Graeme Souness claimed the title race would have been over had Liverpool earned a draw when they piled on late pressure. ‘It was mustwin for City,’ he said on Sky Sports.

‘If Liverpool had got away from that with a point, that would have made them outstanding favourites and their title to lose, but it’s game on again. For me, it’s just about the right result.

‘It’s now Klopp’s time to look at his players and see what reaction he gets.’

Liverpool’s players are refusing to give up their tag as favourites. Midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum said: ‘I don’t want to say it is a hammer blow.

‘You are always disappointed to lose a game, especially when you come back and create chances. We would have been happy with a draw.

‘We were unlucky with other chances. One moment we didn’t defend well and they scored.’

Klopp pointed out that Guardiola’s champions opted to counter-attack in front of their own fans and believed Liverpool did enough to leave the Etihad with a result. ‘We had more moments in the game but when we played football we were a major threat to them. The chance for Sadio was brilliant,’ said the German. ‘If you can overplay their counterpress, then each team in the world struggles, even Manchester City.

‘There were a lot of rusty moments because they all felt under football pressure.’