Liverpool FC beat Tottenham

meIn the Premier League, it is a good tradition for coaches to shake hands immediately after the final whistle. On the sidelines, sometimes there’s just a quick congratulation or a wordless encounter between winners and losers. When Anthony Taylor finished the main match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, Jürgen Klopp and José Mourinho also stepped up. However, it was not just a brief encounter. Because underdog Mourinho obviously had some need to speak after the 1: 2 loss in the last minute.

Klopp seemed a bit irritated when Mourinho began verbally. He finally laughed, looked at Mourinho and gave him a friendly pat on the back before the coaches parted. Later, on the BBC microphone, the German spoke about the dialogue with his Tottenham rival. “The situation did not heat up,” Klopp told what the audience saw but did not hear. “He was just unhappy because he said the best team lost. I thought you were kidding! But he was very serious. That was it “. Klopp took it with a smile, after all, the victory was his.

That Mourinho was pissed off was too understandable. After all, the stakes were high. The Spurs had come first on Anfield Road to the first chaser. After the defeat, Liverpool are now three points ahead of the top of the table. Mohamed Salah gave the “Reds” the lead in the 26th minute with an unfortunate deflected shot that fell directly into the goal. Heung-min Son tied on the other side after a quick attack (33rd). So it remained, until Roberto Firmino took advantage of a corner kick with his head to make it 2-1 in the 90th minute.

That hurt Mourinho, of course. Especially since the striker cheered after a sprint race across the square in front of the famous Kop grandstand with 2,000 fans. It was the 66th consecutive home game in the English league that Liverpool survived without defeat. Klopp was excited. “That was a great game against a great opponent,” he said. “We did very well, that’s how you have to play. Tottenham will play at the top until the end of the season because they are a truly superior, world-class team. Playing against them is a great challenge. “

In fact, Tottenham and Mourinho had reason to be upset. Because there were definitely chances for a different outcome of the game. Steven Bergwijn had the Spurs’ best chances, hitting the post in the 63rd minute. Even striker Harry Kane failed on his promises when he headed over the gate a short distance from a corner a little later. That was avenged in the raging finale. “We deserved the victory, so I have to be disappointed,” Mourinho said. “We only have to score the second or third goal to end the game. We didn’t do that. “

Once underway, Mourinho did not end his complaint about the injustice of football that night, which he saw as screaming. “Losing this game is very, very unfair. But that’s football. In the end, fate decided that they would win, in a strange way for me. ” It couldn’t be more precise. Instead, he complained about Klopp’s behavior. “The referee allows it,” he told the excited German. “I am sad that I cannot do that. If I had acted the same way that he did on the sidelines, I wouldn’t have had any chance of staying there. ” But everything was fine between the two coaches. “No problem.”

With his criticism of Klopp, Mourinho alluded to the fact that he had to replace Giovanni Lo Celso after his yellow card in less than an hour because he feared that the Argentine would catch an expulsion. “The guys out there (Liverpool surrendered to Klopp, editor’s note) put incredible pressure on the referees, so I had to react and take him out of the game,” said Mourinho grumpily. The fact that he himself can be a master of verbal provocation, of course, was not mentioned at this point.

Klopp and Liverpool couldn’t care less about these skirmishes. They survived the ordeal against Tottenham, personally shaken. 19-year-old central defender Rhys Williams made his first Premier League game. And he did a good job. That applied to the entire team. The performance so impressed Klopp that he decided not to change completely. And then came the former Firmino from Hoffenheim, who was the last criticized. “We always sound so surprised when we say ‘Oh, Bobby hit,’ but that’s not so weird,” Klopp said. However, the critics are not so wrong when it comes to pure stats. It was only Firmino’s third goal of the season in his 20th game. But an even more important one.