Jurgen Klopp was not happy with his team’s performance in France (Picture: Getty Images)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp does not believe Alexis MacAllister should have been penalised for handball during a dramatic ending to the 3-2 defeat to Toulouse, but feels his team deserved to lose due to their performance.
The Reds were poor in the Europa League outing in France but appeared to have salvaged a late draw when Jarell Quansah found the back of the net in the dying seconds.
However, the goal was ruled out through VAR due to a MacAllister handball in the build-up, much to the anger of the Liverpool players.
Klopp questioned the decision, but did not seem to be seething about it, more worried about the display his side produced in defeat.
‘I saw the video back and for me it’s not a handball, but how can I decide that?’ Klopp told a post-match press conference. ‘The ball goes to the chest and I don’t see a contact with the arm, to be honest. Maybe they have a different picture than I had.
‘It’s pretty long ago before we score the goal. It was like, “where’s the free-kick.” That’s interesting, we can talk about that.
‘I’m a bit more concerned that I would love us to play better, that’s my main issue tonight. In a football way, more aggressive.’
Although Klopp did say to TNT Sports: ‘I think it’s a goal, 100 per cent.’
The Reds remain top of Europa League Group E, but still need to secure both qualification and, ideally top spot.
The German will not want to see a performance as lacking in intensity and full of slopiness again.
‘It’s well deserved to lose because they had pretty much all the decisive challenges, battles,’ he said. ‘We had too many situations where we should have won the ball and we didn’t.
‘On top of that we gave the ball easily away at least twice. Defending-wise was just not good enough. When you concede three goals you need to score a lot of goals. It nearly happened that we got a point. That wouldn’t have made the game better, but it would have felt better. We have to accept it. Well deserved.’