Klopp: 'Lucky Liverpool only conceded 4 goals'
"To win at City, 14 or 15 players have to be at their best and that didn't happen today," Klopp said after the loss at the Etihad. "We had a chance to close the gap to 2-3 with Andy Robertson's breakthrough. Except that, Man City can do what they want because the gap is too big, so we are lucky they are. only scored one more goal".
Yesterday, Liverpool started well when they took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to Mohamed Salah's forte left foot. With 56 goals, the Egyptian star surpassed Michael Owen to become the most Liverpool player to score away from home in Premier League history. In the 26th minute, in Liverpool's counterattack, Salah stretched for Diogo Jota to be empty in the penalty area, but Jack Grealish promptly stepped back to save it.
A minute later, Man City equalized the score when Grealish himself stretched to let Julian Alvarez cushion Alisson's net. In the second half, De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Grealish respectively scored to help Man City extend the winning streak in all competitions to seven matches.
The first half saw a controversial situation when Rodri blocked Diogo Jota to prevent Liverpool's quick counterattack and received a yellow card in the 33rd minute. A minute later, the Spaniard made a similar foul on Cody Gakpo, but did not. receive more punishment. Liverpool players surrounded referee Simon Hooper and reacted furiously.
However, Klopp refused to blame the referee and admitted Liverpool did not perform well enough. He added: "Does Rodri deserve a second yellow card? Maybe. But I'm not sure Liverpool can win against 10 Man City players."
According to Klopp, only four Liverpool players played well in this match, including Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Cody Gakpo and goalkeeper Alisson Becker. The German coach was disappointed: "There is nothing good to say about this match. Unfortunately, this is a match that we have to use to clarify the impossible. We cannot contest a duel here. key areas. We couldn't leave that many gaps. It was impossible, but it happened."
Since the start of 2023, Liverpool have lost five of their 10 Premier League games - more defeats than last year, when they won 24, drew seven and lost four of their 35 matches in the league. This series of disappointing matches left Liverpool out of breath in the race to win tickets to the Champions League. They are currently eighth with 42 points, seven points behind fourth-place Tottenham and one game less.
In the immediate future, seeing Klopp's game are two other difficult matches, when as a guest of Chelsea in the round of 8 match on April 4, then back to Anfield against Arsenal in the round of 30 on April 9.
