Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claimed he was genuinely unsure whether Pascal Gross’ foul on Dominik Szoboszlai warranted a red card during Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Reds failed to return to winning ways in the Premier League at the end of a long week dominated by the controversial VAR ruling from last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur.
Refereeing decisions were also a topic of discussion in this stalemate with the Seagulls. Simon Adingra gave the hosts an early lead before a brace from Mohamed Salah turned the game around, only for Lewis Dunk to equalise late on.
Salah’s second goal of the afternoon came from the penalty spot after Szoboszlai was hauled to the ground by Gross, preventing the Hungarian from scoring at point-blank range. Gross was not even booked for this cynical foul and he ended up playing the full 90 minutes.
Klopp was asked post-match by Sky Sports whether he thought this challenge was worthy of a red card, but he was in no mood to go too deep into such a discussion.
“I don’t know – I really have no idea,” he replied. “I thought when the foul is in the penalty box, then it’s a yellow card. If it would have been outside, then a red. I don’t know – don’t talk to me about the rules. I take what I get.”
In his press conference, Klopp added: “I didn’t even realise at the time to be honest. When it was a penalty, I didn’t think about a red.
“But I’ve heard now it was about whether it was a goal-scoring opportunity. Can I ask the question here? Do you think it was a goal-scoring opportunity? Hands up! I haven’t seen it back yet. Oh, a few hands up!
“What can I say about that? I’m over it. I’m too old for these kind of things. It won’t change it.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was asked about the decision not to book or send off Gross and he too was confused by the rules.
“On the pitch you are thinking about this and you have to be careful for asking if was going to get sent off,” he said.
“I was curious for the reason why he didn’t get a booking. We win the penalty, we score the penalty and the ref didn’t give a yellow or a red. We have to accept it.”
Liverpool head into the international break in fourth place, three points adrift of leaders Tottenham. Brighton sit one point and two places behind the Reds.
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