Klopp still fuming over Doku’s chest high challenge escaping a penalty
March 11, 2024
Manchester City escaped a huge penalty shout in injury time at the end of their Premier League clash against title challengers Liverpool on Sunday.
The match finished 1-1 after a hard-fought contest at Anfield. City winger Jeremy Doku raised his foot chest high in challenging Alexis Mac Allister for the ball, getting his foot to the ball before pushing through to connect with the player with his studs.
After confronting the referee after the match, Klopp was recorded raging to Sky Sports report Pat Davidson about the challenge. Davidson suggested that VAR likely didn’t want to cross the mark by re-refereeing the match.
“Isn’t it [VAR] there for just making the right decision and not thinking how high a bar you have to overcome to find the right decision?” argued Klopp. “This situation, in all positions on the pitch, is 100 per cent a foul. It’s 100 per cent a foul and a yellow card. Because he hit the ball, yes, but he could only hit the ball because his foot is right there. Yes, he hit the ball, but if the ball is not there, he kills him [Mac Allister]. That’s how it is, it’s as easy as that.”
Klopp went on to suggest that anyone who doesn’t think it’s a penalty isn’t a “football fan”.
Dean himself said live on Sky that “it is a massive decision for the VAR. He got a tiny touch on the ball but the follow-through caught him full in the rib cage. He played the ball first and I am guessing they’re saying the follow-through is a normal coming together. He is very, very fortunate in my opinion there, Doku.”
Writing in his Monday morning column in The Daily Mail, former referee Mark Clattenburg agreed with Klopp.
“Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester City but this is the problem in the Premier League right now – referees are making mistakes in matches and not being helped by their VARs,” wrote Clattenburg. “Regardless of the magnitude of the match and the fact it happened in the 98th minute, this was an incident worthy of a penalty.”
Klopp later added that he was really happy with his team’s performance against the defending champions.
“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played, and important as well that we learned that about ourselves as well. If you play football like that against City, that is a statement… and I love that. You get a point for it, fine, keep going,” said the Liverpool manager.
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Klopp still fuming over Doku’s chest high challenge escaping a penalty
Manchester City escaped a huge penalty shout in injury time at the end of their Premier League clash against title challengers Liverpool on Sunday.
The match finished 1-1 after a hard-fought contest at Anfield. City winger Jeremy Doku raised his foot chest high in challenging Alexis Mac Allister for the ball, getting his foot to the ball before pushing through to connect with the player with his studs.
After confronting the referee after the match, Klopp was recorded raging to Sky Sports report Pat Davidson about the challenge. Davidson suggested that VAR likely didn’t want to cross the mark by re-refereeing the match.
“Isn’t it [VAR] there for just making the right decision and not thinking how high a bar you have to overcome to find the right decision?” argued Klopp. “This situation, in all positions on the pitch, is 100 per cent a foul. It’s 100 per cent a foul and a yellow card. Because he hit the ball, yes, but he could only hit the ball because his foot is right there. Yes, he hit the ball, but if the ball is not there, he kills him [Mac Allister]. That’s how it is, it’s as easy as that.”
Klopp went on to suggest that anyone who doesn’t think it’s a penalty isn’t a “football fan”.
Dean himself said live on Sky that “it is a massive decision for the VAR. He got a tiny touch on the ball but the follow-through caught him full in the rib cage. He played the ball first and I am guessing they’re saying the follow-through is a normal coming together. He is very, very fortunate in my opinion there, Doku.”
Writing in his Monday morning column in The Daily Mail, former referee Mark Clattenburg agreed with Klopp.
“Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester City but this is the problem in the Premier League right now – referees are making mistakes in matches and not being helped by their VARs,” wrote Clattenburg. “Regardless of the magnitude of the match and the fact it happened in the 98th minute, this was an incident worthy of a penalty.”
Klopp later added that he was really happy with his team’s performance against the defending champions.
“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played, and important as well that we learned that about ourselves as well. If you play football like that against City, that is a statement… and I love that. You get a point for it, fine, keep going,” said the Liverpool manager.