Klopp is furious after hearing reasons why VAR ruled out two vital Liverpool goals against Burnley
Liverpool saw goals from Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott ruled out during the 2-0 victory over Burnley
The assistant referee speaks with Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp (R) during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Liverpool at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on December 26, 2023
The assistant referee speaks with Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp (R) during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Liverpool at Turf Moor in Burnley, north-west England on December 26, 2023
Jurgen Klopp hinted at his frustration with two VAR decisions that saw goals chalked off for Liverpool as they beat Burnley 2-0 on Boxing Night.
Goals at either end of the game from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota were enough for the Reds to leapfrog Arsenal at Turf Moor and take the lead at the summit of the Premier League.
However Klopp’s men had a goal in each half from Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott ruled out, first for an apparent foul from Nunez and Charlie Taylor and then another for Mohamed Salah standing in an offside position.
Referee Paul Tierney checked with the pitch-side monitor before deciding that Salah was interfering with goalkeeper James Trafford’s eye-line and Klopp admits the calls were tough to take, even on a night when his team went top of the table.
“The goal for Darwin was as important [as the second],” said Klopp. “Cody scored again, Harvey scored an incredible goal and they just take it away, it’s really, really tough. But we won the game and it’s all fine.
“I was really happy with the first half. I don’t know how many finishes we had today, in the last three games we had something like 80 shots, plus today it might be over 100 in four games, which is absolutely insane.
“We should have been calmer and finished the game off much earlier, that’s clear. But again, that’s not for me to be frustrated. I know how intense the period is. It’s all about getting through it and getting results. Today we got three points and well deserved.
“We could have got it easier, but as long as I’ve been at Liverpool we never did it the easy way. So why should we stop with that now?”
Speaking to Amazon, he added: : “Why do referees create their own view on something? We all watch football and need the referee but we need them to make the right interpretations of the rules. It’s like, wow. Handball is sometimes handball and all these kinds of things”
On Jota, who returned after a month out with the decisive second goal. Klopp added: “I love Diogo Jota but he missed chances in the past as well!
“That’s the nature of the thing – we always ask for the players who aren’t involved and all of a sudden we think they can then change the world. Diogo is an incredibly important player for us and having him changes the whole dynamic, that’s true.
“But he missed chances before that. The goal he scored today was of a boy full of conviction because he had no chance to create any kind of doubt in the last few
weeks as he was in rehab.”
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