Frustrated Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp slams official for rejecting penalty claim in 1-1 draw against Leicester; EPL title dream under threat
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp (right) with Daniel Sturridge during an EPL match against Leicester on Wednesday. Pic/Getty Images
Jurgen Klopp refused to be down-hearted despite his annoyance at being denied a strong second-half penalty claim in Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Leicester at Anfield on Wednesday.
The result, coming 24 hours after EPL title rivals Manchester City were beaten at lowly Newcastle, saw Klopp's team extend their lead at the top of the table to five points. But it could, obviously, have been seven points after Sadio Mane gave Liverpool an early lead, only for Harry Maguire to score a dramatic equaliser in first-half injury-time.
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To compound Klopp's unhappiness, Maguire had been cautioned just six minutes earlier for a foul on Mane when the Liverpool striker appeared ready to break clear on goal in a counter-attack. Referee Martin Atkinson deemed that foul worth only a yellow card, and compounded his "crime" in the eyes of home fans, when he did not award Liverpool a second-half penalty following what appeared to be Ricardo Pereira's trip on Naby Keita.
"The 1-1 is OK even though everybody agrees it should have been a penalty," said Klopp. "I don't know why it wasn't. I don't know what he [Atkinson] saw because he had the best position. There was no blood involved but, still, it was a penalty."
The Liverpool manager, looking to bring the English title to Anfield for the first time in 29 years, continued: "But he doesn't want to give it, and we can't tell him to come and look at it again. I think we agree it was a penalty."
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