Jürgen Klopp accused the referee Paul Tierney of holding a grudge against Liverpool and of speaking out of turn during his team’s thrilling stoppage‑time victory over Tottenham.
Klopp was booked by Tierney for sprinting up to the face of fourth official John Brooks when celebrating Diogo Jota’s 94th‑minute winner at Anfield, which came 99 seconds after Richarlison appeared to have completed Spurs’ comeback from three goals down with his first Premier League goal for the club.
Spurs’ interim manager Ryan Mason felt Jota should not have been on the pitch to score having escaped a red card for catching Oliver Skipp in the face with a raised boot. But Klopp claimed his team were on the receiving end of harsh decisions from Tierney, who has history with the Liverpool manager. The Football Association is likely to look into Klopp’s comments as they question the integrity of a match official.
Klopp, who pulled a hamstring when running up to Brooks, said: “How they can give a foul on Mohamed Salah [just 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.”
Klopp later declined to elaborate on what Tierney said in their exchange. “I will not say anything about it. The refs don’t say what is said so I don’t say what is said.” The manager claimed Anfield was guilty of complacency after Liverpool had raced into a three-goal lead after 15 minutes and asked supporters not to sing his praises during a game.
“Pretty much everyone misunderstood it. Between 3-0 and 3-1 the atmosphere was like ‘Sorry, what is going on?’ Nobody knew. I have to say now, I love all of them [fans] but my song, don’t sing it. If you want to sing it, sing it after the game in the bars, wherever. We are 3-0 up and I hear ‘I’m so glad that Jürgen is a red’. It is not over. It would be really nice if you could leave it for later and now it’s 4-3, everyone is happy. Let’s keep going.”
Mason struggled to find the words to describe his disappointment after Lucas Moura’s error gifted Liverpool victory and ruined Spurs’ stirring comeback. “It is impossible to take at this minute,” the interim manager said. “I wouldn’t say we were unlucky. I would say we helped Liverpool.
“They were clinical, even the moment at the end from a player [Jota] that shouldn’t be on the pitch. My feeling was it was an instant red card because when your foot is studs showing and you’re five and a half feet off the ground and make contact with a player’s head and draw blood, and there is a gash, I think it ticks all the boxes. It’s decided the game because that player shouldn’t have been on the pitch at the end to decide the game.”
