Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been slammed for his celebrations following Diogo Jota’s late winner on the weekend against Tottenham Hotspur.
What did Jurgen Klopp do?
Sunday’s game at Anfield offered the fans 90 minutes they will never forget after a stunning start saw them take a 3-0 lead against the north London side.
However, the Lilywhites slowly worked their way back into the game and in dramatic fashion, former Everton player, Richarlison came off the bench to score an injury-time equaliser.
The Brazilian had just about put his shirt back on as Liverpool broke from the resulting kick-off to which Jota slammed the ball beyond Fraser Forster to seal the points.
Late euphoria clearly got the better of Klopp who immediately ran towards the fourth official to celebrate in his face as the Reds rose into fifth place of the table.
The German boss was shown a yellow card by Paul Tierney following the incident and seemingly injured his hamstring in the dramatic celebrations.
However, the incident did not go down well with beIN Sports presenter Richard Keys who was left furious with the actions of the Liverpool boss:
“He is box office, but there are occasions he strays beyond what’s acceptable, and today he’s done that.”
“If he’s more responsible than he was this afternoon, he will – as he has done – accept once again, he’s lost control. And that is a flaw in his character. And he cannot continue to do that.”
“But I would say that someone needs to have a word and say: ‘Look, come on. You can’t do that.'”
Did Klopp cross the line?
There is no denying the final minutes of the game on Sunday will have stirred the emotions for all involved at Liverpool and none more so than Klopp.
However, his actions did cross the line following the goal in the dying moments of the game and he could have certainly gone about it differently.
The German could have celebrated with his players and coaching staff, but he has gone out of his way to make a point towards the officials.
Following the game, the 55-year-old was quick to bring up the moment he was shown a yellow card by Paul Tierney when speaking to Sky Sports:
“My celebration towards the fourth official, I didn’t say any bad words or nothing unnecessary, which is fair. I got my punishment by pulling my hamstring. But what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not okay.”
If the PGMOL do decide to take further action against Klopp, the German will likely find it incredibly difficult to defend his celebration given the manner of which he approached the fourth official.
However, it will be interesting to see whether anything comes of his comments about what Tierney allegedly said to him when handing him the yellow card.
Both team arguably got away with red card offences during the game, so perhaps Klopp should have recognised Tierney’s questionable officiating and brought it up with him after the game when he would’ve had the chance behind the scenes.
