Saturday 31 March 2018 17:46, UK
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side were fortunate not to have Sadio Mane sent off in their 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Senegal international - who had already been booked for simulation in the first half - had just equalised for the visitors at Selhurst Park when he gave away a free kick on the edge of the area.
However, after conceding the foul, Mane then clearly used his hand to grab the ball, only for referee Neil Swarbrick to decide not to book the player.
"It was no dive; diving with a bit of contact is not possible," said the German of Mane's first booking.
"It was contact, 100 per cent. He wants to stay (on his feet) and then it doesn't work and he goes down.
"And the second yellow, I think it was a foul on Sadio. But then he made a wrong decision to put his hand on the ball.
"And then I thought 'okay that's it, au revoir, see you later'. I thought 'now he's gone', of course."
Klopp was most delighted with Liverpool's resolve after falling behind to Luka Milivojevic's 13th-minute penalty, with the visitors taking the three points thanks to second-half strikes by Mane and, late on, Mohamed Salah's 29th in the league.
"A very difficult place," he said. "After the international break it is always difficult as we are all used to a specific rhythm and intensity in training and you all go to different national teams to do different things.
"It was really intense today and so being 1-0 down with the atmosphere here I am really happy that we turned that and in the end, absolutely deserved.
"Yes, Loris [Karius] had to make a few good saves, but Palace were also pretty lucky on a few occasions that we did not score.
"So two wonderful goals after a difficult start."
The only negative as far as Klopp was concerned was another injury to midfielder Adam Lallana, who lasted just five minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute being forced off with a muscle problem.
"Lallana was on the pitch for three or four minutes and then again an injury," said Klopp of the player who has made just one league start all season due to a long-standing thigh issue.
"So that is a really harsh one and so at the minute we do not feel that bad because we can still hope that it is not that serious.
"But it is very hard for him and for us."
