Jurgen Klopp has claimed the officials for Liverpool’s win at Burnley have ‘never played football’ amid the ‘insane’ decision to disallow Harvey Elliott’s goal.
The Reds returned to the top of the Premier League table on Boxing Day as they eased to a 2-0 win at Turf Moor thanks to strikes from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.
Klopp has blasted the ‘insane’ decision to disallow Harvey Elliott’s goalCredit: Rex
But it could have been a bigger scoreline had the Merseyside outfit not had two goals overturned.
Referee Paul Tierney ruled out Cody Gakpo’s first-half strike for a Darwin Nunez foul on Charlie Taylor. VAR reviewed the goal but decided not to overturn the decision or get Tierney to review it on his pitchside monitor.
Shortly into the second period, Harvey Elliott then saw a goal wiped out, with Mohamed Salah adjudged to have been impeding James Trafford’s vision while standing in an offside position.
But despite VAR official Nick Hopton spotting the offside, he didn’t see the push on Salah by Jordan Beyer which saw him shunted beyond the Clarets backline.
Speaking to Amazon Prime after the game, Klopp was asked about Elliott’s disallowed goal, while also being shown Salah being nudged in the back.
It left the German failing to hold back in his view of the officials, as he blasted the ‘insane’ decision.
He said: “Only somebody who has never played football can make this an offside.
“But again, they will tell us in the end, ‘It’s an offside situation’, or whatever.
Beyer pushed Salah in the back just as Ryan Gravenberch sent in a low crossCredit: Prime Video
Salah was then in an offside position as Elliott tucked home from close rangeCredit: Prime Video
“It’s insane when you see that. This man, if he never played football, then it can happen where he might think, ‘Oh, offside rule, let me see, page seven, there’s somebody between him and the goalie…’
“That’s a ridiculous decision.”
Incredible defending by Jordan Beyer. Expert level anticipation to push Salah into an offside position. 💪🏼🔥@BurnleyOfficial pic.twitter.com/PIBjSTxXyn
— Gavin Marshall (@GavMarshall1) December 26, 2023
He added: “Why do referees create their own view on something?
“We all watch football and need the referees, but we need them to make the right interpretations of the rules.
“How can you make in this situation no goal, it’s like, wow. If that would have been on us, I would say, ‘that’s a clear goal’.
“Handball is sometimes handball and all these kinds of things.”
Thankfully for Klopp and his Liverpool side, the decisions against them didn’t have an impact on the result, with the Reds now two points clear of Arsenal.
