Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has slammed referee Stuart Attwell’s performance after Monday’s 3-1 loss to Brentford, saying the hosts’ third goal was a “clear foul”.
The defeat was Liverpool’s first against Brentford in all competitions since 1938, and it came via goals from Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, plus an own goal from Ibrahima Konate.
Mbeumo’s decisive goal came in the 84th minute. The striker collected a long ball forward, made light contact with Konaté who sent the defender to the ground and sent the ball past Alisson.
Klopp said after the game he couldn’t respect the goal, adding: “If you’ve ever played football and run a full sprint and you get a slight push, you go down because you can’t keep the balance, it’s like that and you see that with Ibou (Konaté).
Asked by beIN Sports about talking to match officials about decisions, Klopp said: “It’s actually the exact same thing I would talk to my microwave, you really don’t get any response. It’s always the same thing.
“VAR is hiding behind the phrase ‘not clear and obvious’. The referee has to explain that.
Klopp has also criticized the officiating of the physical nature of Brentford players in their attacking set pieces, telling Sky Sports they are “stretching the rules” in terms of contact.
“I don’t expect anything in our favour, but I do expect that holding is holding, pushing is pushing and foul is foul. There’s a reason why Brentford do so well in the set pieces offensively not defensively There are things you can do in the other box.
Brentford appeared to score from a corner three times in the first half – two were ruled out for offside but Konate’s goal stood.
“I’m not happy with the way we defended from set pieces. We didn’t behave perfectly but Brentford stretched the rules in those moments. Obviously that’s what you can do now with the referees.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s smart, but they do it. If you picked all the situations, you’d find five faults, but because it’s so chaotic, no one sees it in the end. That’s what they do and it’s good, really, really good.
Asked to respond to the claim that his team would extend the rules, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: “I guess we have some very, very good referees. We have four on the pitch and then a VAR room and I think it has never been so difficult to score a goal.
“But of course I’m happy that he praised us and it’s an honor for the good work we are doing on our attacking set pieces.”
Klopp also lamented the missed chances Liverpool had to come to mind early on, saying: “We started the game pretty well. We could have, maybe we should have led 2-0 before they got the first corner. We fought back, but it was much more a game they wanted than a game we wanted.
“We had moments in the second half and we knew we needed them again and again. We were in a really good time then, but then we can’t get it through. They could dictate it.
“The game was decided by the second goal, which is absolutely our fault. We are not happy with the performance, clearly.
The result lifted Brentford to seventh place in the Premier League table, just two points behind Liverpool in sixth place.
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