Saturday 28 April 2018 16:23, UK
We pick out the key talking points after lacklustre Liverpool were held by struggling Stoke at Anfield...
"It was a poor decision from the referee and linesman. Ultimately they've cost us the three points." Jordan Henderson was in no doubt about what prevented Liverpool from securing victory - and taking a big step towards sealing a top-four finish - against Stoke on Saturday.
There were just three minutes left on the clock when Georginio Wijnaldum whipped the ball into Stoke's six-yard box and into Erik Pieters' arm. However, despite Liverpool's appeals for a penalty kick, referee Andre Marriner waved play on.
"I felt like it was a clear penalty in play, and I've seen it on the telly and it is a clear penalty," Reds skipper Henderson told Sky Sports after the game.
But it was a moment which divided opinion, with Stoke's Joe Allen saying the visitors would have been "hard done by" had it been given, while his former Potters team-mate Shay Given agreed in the Sky Sports studio, saying "I don't think it's stonewall, his hand has to be somewhere."
Fellow pundit Graeme Souness sided with Henderson, suggesting Pieters could have avoided the ball striking his arm - but disagreed that the decision had "cost" the home team. "Liverpool cost Liverpool," he said. "You can't have 72 per cent of possession and only have two shots on target. With 38 touches in the opposition box, you've got to make the goalkeeper work.
"Liverpool can only look at themselves. It wasn't that one penalty shout that cost Liverpool the game."
Liverpool can only look at themselves. It wasn't that one penalty shout that cost Liverpool the game.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had described this fixture as his team's "biggest game of the season" before kick-off. That was an exaggeration but underlined the importance the manager put on the match as a chance to strengthen their hold on a top-four place.
But with the second leg of the Reds' Champions League semi-final coming on Wednesday, there was an understandable absence of sharpness from the hosts.
"When you've got a big game coming up, how can you guarantee the focus to be there? It's not there today," Souness said at half-time. "There are signs of it all over the pitch, like Ragnar Klavan and Virgil van Dijk not winning headers to the goalkeeper making sloppy passes. This is a classic case we're seeing of a team not being bang at it today."
There were good chances for Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, as well as two other penalty shouts involving Pieters and a goal ruled out for offside for Danny Ings, but too often Liverpool's attacking play lacked the pace and precision which has become their trademark this season.
In total, they managed just two shots on target. Their total of 20 efforts was the most they'd had without scoring for four years.
"I'm fine with the performance, I understand all the performances," said Klopp afterwards, seeing the bigger picture, with the Reds needing one more win to guarantee Champions League football next season. "We can play much better. But I take the point. We have one more than we had before the game. It could have been worse, for sure."
Salah has scored in each of his last seven appearances in all competitions, hitting the net 11 times. But, with just one goal needed to break the Premier League 38-game season scoring record, he missed a golden chance to reach that milestone against Stoke.
Put through one-on-one with just seven minutes on the clock, Salah looked certain to score, but instead his familiar chipped finish was just pulled wide of the near post. Anfield was shocked.
Later in the first half Salah rippled the side-netting with a whipped free-kick, but he would remain frustrated by a stubborn Stoke defence - and the close attentions of man marker Pieters.
The result leaves Liverpool needing three points from their final two Premier League fixtures of the season, with Chelsea to play at Stamford Bridge next weekend live on Sky Sports, before signing off with a home game against Brighton.
"We need another three, with two games to take them. If football is fair, we will take them," said Klopp - but Sky Sports pundit Souness sounded a warning note.
"If you're trying to apply any logic to football, forget it. There isn't any fairness in football," he said. "But in the last two games you can look at points dropped for a very good reason - the Roma games. We'll see a different Liverpool next time out."
It was a tremendous defensive display from a determined Stoke City at Anfield, with Kurt Zouma and Ryan Shawcross towers of strength in the middle of the backline. Among their many clearances, Zouma crucially diverted a cross away from Salah and Shawcross thumped into a tackle with James Milner to keep Liverpool at bay, while Pieters followed Salah across the pitch to limit the Reds' danger man.
There was little intent from Stoke to go out and push for the win - although Shawcross just failed to turn in at the back post with a couple of minutes to play - and after the final whistle, boss Paul Lambert was proud of the point. With Crystal Palace and Swansea still to play, there is a glimmer of hope.
"I think it's a brilliant result," Lambert told Sky Sports. "They played a lot of their big hitters and I took pride in the team, I thought they were outstanding. The players have been fantastic for me. We're in the fight and for them to play the way they did, I'm happy for it."
