Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has come to the defence of goalkeeper Alisson Becker after two crucial mistakes gifted the Manchester City side victory at Anfield.
Alisson was guilty of two misplaced passes in a space of three minutes which allowed Gundogan to grab a second goal after Mohammed Salah had restored parity from the penalty spot and then Raheem Sterling to make it 3-1.
”We made two massive mistakes, everyone saw them 3-1 down in a game that we were even for a long time and you’re really down, it’s tough to take and then there’s a genius situation where they scored the fourth goal,” Klopp said in a post-match interview.
The German though reluctant to speak on the Brazilian’s errors that cost his side the game blamed it on the shot-stopper having cold feet
”We can’t hide them (the Alisson mistakes), we don’t have to talk around it. It’s true as well. We didn’t give a lot of options, especially in the first goal. In the second goal he just mishit the ball,” he said
“There’s no real reason, maybe he had cold feet. It sounds funny but could be.”
Though saddened by the match outcome, he insisted there were a lot of positives to take from the Reds’ performance.
”Really good football, I see in your eyes, you see it differently. I really liked it, we were playing really good football against City,” he said.
City’s 4-1 victory moves them to 50 points from 22 games played, five more than second-placed Manchester United who have played a game more.
The win ended a seventeen-year winless record at Anfield which saw Nicholas Anelka net a brace against the then Gérard Houllier’s side.
Liverpool are now 10 points behind City in fourth spot and next face Leicester City as they hope to get back to winning ways.