Tottenham Hotspur earned a hard-fought point away at Liverpool yesterday.
Reds boss Jürgen Klopp addressed the media in aftermath of his side’s 2-2 draw with Spurs at Anfield yesterday, and responded to questions asking him whether he thought Erik Lamela dived to earn his side a last minute penalty – one that was subsequently tucked away by Harry Kane, as quoted by popular football news website Football.London.
Liverpool began the game in sensational fashion, with Mo Salah putting them ahead after just two minutes. They were first to every loose ball, hassling and harrying Tottenham at every turn, but everything changed in the second half, when the home side looked spent, and the visitors began to turn the screw.
Salah’s second goal was sandwiched in between two Spurs penalties, one missed and one converted by Kane, and both were highly controversial.
For the second spot kick, Lamela went down very easily from Virgil van Dijk’s challenge, and fell to the ground in an exaggerated manner.
Klopp spoke to reporters after the game, and responded when asked if he thought the Argentine dived to win the penalty, as quoted by Football.London:
“Obviously it’s a language issue. It was not a dive with Lamela. He jumped in the situation. He wanted the contact. He didn’t even look at the ball. It’s not a dive, it’s a normal reaction I said, it’s a normal reaction. It’s not clear, the ball is in the air and players go down, that’s how it is. But you don’t give a penalty when it’s like that.”
A draw was probably a fair result in the end, and after having a day or so to reflect on proceedings, both sides would most likely agree with that notion.
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