Jurgen Klopp slams Martin Atkinson over incident during Southampton vs Liverpool

Posted by

Jurgen Klopp has slammed Martin Atkinson for his refereeing of Liverpool’s clash with Southampton.

Klopp’s men remained in the title race heading into the final day thanks to a 2-1 comeback win at St Mary’s.

Takumi Minamao and Joel Matip were on target as Liverpool kept the pressure on Manchester City, moving to within a point going into the final weekend.

But they had to do it the hard way, and that was because of an early Nathan Redmond goal that put Southampton ahead after 13 minutes.

It was a concerning goal to concede for Liverpool at the time, given a defeat would have crowned City champions with a game to spare.

But many of a Liverpool persuasion felt the goal should not have stood.

Klopp, and indeed most Liverpool fans, felt Diogo Jota was fouled in the build-up, but nothing was given, and Redmond went on to find the net in the same passage of play.

After the game, Klopp criticised Atkinson who, he believes, has previous.

“For me, it was a foul,” he said, as cited by the Mirror.

MORE: Neville plays down Gerrard impact in title race

“But we have been in a similar situation when Martin Atkinson has not given a foul on one of our players and (Marcus) Rashford scored a goal, it was exactly the same.

“Afterwards, he said yes we could have spotted that, but who cares?”

More Stories Jurgen Klopp Liverpool Martin Atkinson Southampton