Liverpool’s four-game Premier League winning run came a crushing end as they were beaten at Brentford but Jurgen Klopp was not happy with the referee’s performance
Jurgen Klopp has blasted the officials after Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat at Brentford – and admitted he has “no clue” how the Bees’ third goal didn’t get disallowed.
Liverpool missed the chance to close the gap on fourth-place Manchester United to a point at the Brentford Community Stadium as they crashed to a convincing defeat in west London. Ibrahima Konate’s own-goal gave Thomas Frank’s men the lead, before Yoane Wissa’s added a second just before the break.
However, Klopp was unhappy about the “pushing” and “holding” inside the box leading to the opening goal and in another case where Wissa saw another strike disallowed from a corner. Although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back for the Reds in the second-half, Bryan Mbeumo put the game beyond doubt with a terrific finish.
There was some controversy surrounding that strike, though, as Klopp felt Konate was fouled in the build-up to the goal. Jamie Carragher didn’t think it was a foul as he spoke on commentary duties for Sky Sports and the Liverpool boss issued a frank verdict in his post-match interview as he slammed the referee and his staff.
He told Sky Sports: “Of course I’m not 100 percent happy, I will have to watch it back again and again because the two corners where they scored, one of them was offside or whatever it was, and then the other one of course we don’t behave perfectly.
“But they are stretching the rules in this moment, they are pushing, holding and everything and the refs, that’s obviously what you can do, that’s why it’s really difficult and we could have done better.
Liverpool were beaten at Brentford
“The third goal, I have no clue how he can only not whistle for a foul in that situation where the defender has been given a push in the back. You lose control and you go down, then they hide behind the phrase ‘it’s not clear and obvious.’ These are the situations, he has to explain that, if somebody were to ask him.”
He added: “We had a meeting before the season where they told us not the foul on Ibou, but the behaviour in the box, the refs will whistle, but unfortunately they don’t do it. Do I expect it? I don’t expect anything in our favour, I just think a foul is a foul, holding is holding and pushing is pushing.
Jurgen Klopp was furious with officials following defeat to Brentford
“That’s a few things that are allowed and then not allowed, and refs see them, they whistle for it, if they don’t then they cannot whistle for it, that’s how it is.
“Maybe there’s a reason why they are so successful from set pieces but still concede a lot of defensive goals around set pieces, because there you cannot do the same stuff because it would be a penalty. That’s why they do well, but there are some rules and that’s what you have to see.”
