Saturday 10 March 2018 21:36, UK
Jurgen Klopp blamed defensive errors and an incorrect refereeing decision for Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to rivals Manchester United.
Liverpool failed to deal with the aerial threat posed by United and found themselves 2-0 behind inside 24 minutes after Marcus Rashford's double.
Liverpool rallied in the second period and halved the deficit when Eric Bailly put through his own net, and Klopp felt his side should have had a penalty, and the chance to equalise, when a Marouane Fellaini challenge on Sadio Mane went unpunished.
"It didn't go our way because of the two goals we conceded," Klopp told Sky Sports. "We have to defend these situations better.
"You can always lose a header or tackle with (Romelu) Lukaku but you need to close the gap in behind. They scored the two goals and that made the game harder.
"There were a few OK moments and two good ones in the first half where we could have done better and been more clinical, but we didn't score before half-time and chased the game in the second half.
"We scored and had more chances and I thought Fellaini's tackle on Mane was a clear penalty. If there's no foul, Sadio shoots. It's a free shot from the edge of the box. In a situation like this you need the right decisions.
"But as we said before the game it's all about the result and we lost. They scored two we scored one so they deserve the three points, but a point would have been absolutely fair for us."
Liverpool travelled to Old Trafford in good form having won four of their last five Premier League games, but Klopp conceded the odds were stacked against his side when they went 2-0 behind.
"It's really clear (that we were not at our best). I have no explanation for that," he added.
"They played a lot of long balls and we were not there, that's hard to explain. It's not an excuse but it happens in football. If you don't make mistakes the opponent cannot score.
"We needed to be there when Rashford cut back for his first goal, 100 per cent. I don't know who but we were not there. In those two decisive moments we were not good.
"A lot of other moments we were good. We fought back with heart, played some good football, crossed everything into the box, the clear chances were they but we did not score."
