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Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, criticized referee Michael Oliver’s judgment call during their 3-2 loss against Arsenal on Sunday.
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When Thiago Alcantara made slight contact with Gabriel Jesus in the 18-yard area, the Reds gave up a contentious penalty, which resulted in the Gunners’ third goal.
When Gabriel, a defender, was knocked on the arm by Diogo Jota’s cross, Klopp’s team was again refused a penalty.
Gabriel Martinelli’s first goal, which came after only 58 seconds, may have been disallowed if Bukayo Saka hadn’t been in the camera’s blind spot when he got the ball from Ben White during the build-up, it was later discovered.
VAR was unable to draw the lines to ascertain Saka’s offside status due to his position.
Prior to Liverpool’s Champions League match against Rangers on Wednesday, Klopp stated in his press conference that: “On Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, when Mr. Dermot [Gallagher] twice says the decision was wrong by the best English referee Michael Oliver… the TV ref usually always says exactly what the ref decided was right.
“We had a significant discussion with the referees before the season, and they said no soft penalties any longer. Then, we’ve previously seen this season what kinds of circumstances constitute a handball, and there have been penalties involving precisely the same circumstances, but not in this contest.
“We gave up some foolish goals, particularly the second one in the first half, but between the first and second goal, we played a really nice game against a side that was hot in the league.
“Then I find out later because no one could demonstrate that Saka was likely offside around the first goal. Suddenly, a poor defensive situation improves because he would have been offside, but the assistant missed it or assumed VAR would examine it because VAR was lacking a camera.
“The circumstances surrounding the penalty situation are our responsibility. Even if we ought to have cleared it earlier, there was no penalty. Naturally, we are accountable for going through a set-piece and giving up a counterattack, but we cannot be held accountable for the first goal due to good defending and offside.
“It’s incredibly difficult, and certainly, we can play better, but we went to Arsenal to win the game, not to prove how brilliant we are.
It’s hard to criticize because of how we lost it, so what did we miss in this particular game? To be completely honest, we could have evaluated the game if the referee had made the appropriate decisions. If we succeed in that game, our issues will appear to the outer world to be fully resolved. We are aware that is not how it is. Now, that’s exactly the opposite of what should have happened since we lost the game and three guy”
