- Reds prevail in seven-goal thriller
- German coach injured while celebrating
- Has history with match official
WHAT HAPPENED? The Reds boss lost his cool after seeing Diogo Jota grab a 94th-minute winner against Spurs at Anfield, with that effort coming 99 seconds after Richarlison had completed a three-goal comeback for the visitors. Klopp took his celebrations into the face of the fourth official, pulling his hamstring in the process, and was booked after allowing emotion to get the better of him. The German tactician admits that his actions were “unnecessary”, but believes words from Tierney aimed in his direction also fall into that category.
WHAT THEY SAID: Klopp told Sky Sports of an official that he has previous with: “How they can give a foul on Mohamed Salah [before Spurs' third goal]. We have our history with Tierney, I really don’t know what he has against us, he has said there is no problems but that cannot be true. How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. In England nobody has to clarify these situations, it’s really tricky and hard to understand. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not ok.”
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have since issued a statement refuting Klopp's accusations against Tierney. "PGMOL is aware of the comments made by Jürgen Klopp after his side’s fixture with Tottenham Hotspur," the statement reads. "Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system and having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today’s fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney’s actions were improper."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: This is not the first time that Liverpool have taken issue with Premier League officials this season, with Andy Robertson caught by an elbow from assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis during a meeting with Arsenal.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Liverpool have moved up to fifth in the table, seven points adrift of the top four, and will be back in action on Wednesday when playing host to Fulham.