LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND (REUTERS) – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp rued their failure to kill off Brighton & Hove Albion after taking an early two-goal lead as the visitors fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw at Anfield on Saturday (Oct 30).
Second-placed Liverpool are now three points behind leaders Chelsea, who gained ground after a 3-0 win at Newcastle United with another clinical performance.
Having said Liverpool were unlucky to have had two goals scrapped for infringements, Klopp conceded they switched off and suggested complacency might have crept in after Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane gave them a 2-0 lead.
Mane had another goal ruled out as a low clearance by Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez struck his hand while Mohamed Salah’s effort was scrapped for offside after VAR checks.
“It feels like a defeat,” Klopp told the BBC.
“It’s not only because we were 2-0 up, it’s because we scored two of the most beautiful goals I’ve ever seen us score, which were disallowed.
“The pressing goal for Sadio was just unlucky, if you want to teach pressing, you would show this situation. But disallowed for handball, I guess.
“In the second half, we were not good enough. The body language I didn’t like it all. It was like ‘oh my God, it’s really tough’. Yeah, it was clear before the game.”
Brighton fought back as Enock Mwepu halved the deficit with an audacious long-range effort before Leandro Trossard’s clinical finish secured a share of the spoils.
“It’s a fantastic performance, the players deserve all the credit,” Brighton manager Graham Potter said.
“They’ve played with such courage and intensity, it was a fantastic game of football. Both teams went at it, we were toe-to-toe. It’s a point for us and a performance we can build on.
“It could have been 3-0 but instead it was 2-1. Those little things need to go your way, but I think our second goal was really well worked. You could tell the crowd was frustrated and that’s a sign of how well we were playing.”