Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp on Sunday bemoaned Manchester United’s defensive tactics and a controversial video assistant referee (VAR) call as the European champions’ 17-game winning run in the English Premier League came to an end in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford’s controversial goal handed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling Red Devils a 1-0 halftime lead, but they could not hold out for a much-needed victory as substitute Adam Lallana leveled five minutes from time.
Liverpool move six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, but Klopp felt his side missed an opportunity to inflict more pain on a United side sitting 13th in the table.
Photo: Reuters
“Pretty much everything went against us. Our own performance in the first half as well,” said Klopp, who was left baffled by the VAR decision not to rule out Rashford’s goal for a foul on Divock Origi by Victor Lindelof in the buildup.
“I was 100 percent sure VAR will overrule it,” he said. “The ref let the game run because he has VAR, but then VAR says then ‘it is not clear,’ so we could say it is not a foul. It’s a clear VAR issue in how we deal with it in the moment.”
The two most successful sides in English soccer could not have gone into the game in more contrasting form, but United answered Solskjaer’s calls to rise to the occasion as his switch to a 3-5-2 formation restricted the league leaders to precious few chances.
“When we come here this year, last year and the year before they just defend. It’s not criticism, it’s just a fact,” Klopp said.
“The quality they have, [when they] set up like that, it’s really difficult,” he said. “It’s no excuse, we needed to do better. We are a good team and it’s normal people think about how they stop us.”
United had not scored in their two previous matches, but finally produced a moment of quality going forward to take the lead, even if fortune was also on their side for the goal to stand.
After Lindelof and Origi’s coming together, Daniel James’ cross perfectly picked out Rashford to prod past Alisson.
“No chance,” said Solskjaer when asked if he thought it was a foul by Lindelof.
“It’s not basketball,” he said. “He touched him, but it’s not a clear and obvious error. I don’t think it’s a foul.”
The point leaves United just two points above the relegation zone, but Solskjaer is hopeful holding the league leaders will prove to be a turning point.
“I’m disappointed I can’t sit here and talk about a win, but the performance is very positive,” he said. “One point today is the start of something. We need to start winning games.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB