Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool’s controversial late penalty their 3-1 win at Crystal Palace was fully deserved.
With Palace pushing for an equaliser at 2-1, Diogo Jota was brought down by goalkeeper Vicente Guiata during a Reds’ counter-attack.
Referee Kevin Friend was invited to check the pitch-side monitor after an intervention from VAR before the spot-kick was awarded.
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Fabinho scored his fourth goal of the last fortnight from 12 yards to seal the win and reduce the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to nine points.
“I didn’t see it back yet,” Klopp said in his post-match press conference. “Diogo thought it was a penalty, I could see that on the pitch.
“VAR thought it was a penalty, that’s why the referee went to the screen so I’m not sure what we are talking about.
“Four eyes watched it.”
After taking a two-goal lead through Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Odsonne Edouard reduced the deficit before Palace pushed to become the fourth team this season to go level from 2-0 down against Klopp’s men.
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The Reds manager says he had no explanation for why the performance level dipped so alarmingly after an excellent start in south London.
He added: “The first 35 minutes was absolutely brilliant, some of the best stuff we’ve played this season.
“Exactly how we wanted to play and if someone had a proper explanation for what happened after 35 minutes they’d be a billionaire overnight.
“The relief after 2-0 after an intense week was just so big that we wanted to have a break on the pitch? But that’s not possible.”
