EPL: Liverpool got lucky, says boss Jurgen Klopp

Reds manager Klopp admits his team were fortunate not to fall behind to a controversial Fulham goal before clinching 2-0 win; go atop league table

Jurgen Klopp accepted his Liverpool side got a bit lucky after a controversial offside flag denied Fulham the lead in their 2-0 defeat at Anfield yesterday. Under-pressure Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic hit out at what he described as an absurd situation after Aleksandar Mitrovic appeared to have headed the bottom-of-the-table visitors into the lead five minutes before the break.

Quick reaction
Celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, however, and a quick restart from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold to play in Mohamed Salah for his eighth goal of the season and his 34th in his last 36 games at Anfield. Just 14 seconds separated the flag and the Liverpool opener and when Xherdan Shaqiri stretched the lead with a delightful volley eight minutes into the second half the game was beyond the visitors.

Klopp was unsure of whether the officials had been right to deny Fulham a goal but hailed the brilliant reaction of his Premier League title-chasers in turning the situation to their advantage. "I saw it once, I'm not sure if it was offside or not," said the Liverpool manager. "We didn't get a goal against Arsenal when we scored a clearer goal. I don't want to compare it but you cannot change it. The most important thing is reacting in a situation like that and that was brilliant. Ally, Trent, Mo and done, it was a fantastic situation."

Jurgen Klopp

The German boss felt Andy Robertson had been impeded in the run up to Fulham's disallowed goal and it was the Scottish full-back who could have played Mitrovic onside. "Good routine. At the end we were a bit lucky," admitted Klopp. The German was happy with Liverpool's display, even though they were still far from their fluent best. "They played lot of long balls and Mitrovic did outstandingly well," said Klopp.

'Good performance'
"So that was tricky but apart from that I thought the boys did well. We created and passed at the right moments and had chances early on with Sadio, Shaqiri and Salah in the box, when they blocked it last second, when the goalkeeper could make a save. Apart from scoring more goals, it was a good performance."

34
No. of goals Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has scored in his last 36 games at Anfield

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