First Watford goal should have been a foul – Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp does not believe Watford’s first goal should have stood after his side suffered a 3-0 defeat at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

Odion Ighalo scored twice for the hosts, but it was Nathan Ake’s third-minute opener that angered the former Borussia Dortmund boss.

Goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, who replaced the injured Simon Mignolet, had initially dropped a routine Ben Watson corner, but Klopp felt he got two hands back on the ball before Ake made contact to bundle in from close range.

“The first drop is his fault, but then both hands on the ball, that is the goalkeeper safe,” Klopp said to Sky Sports.

“He has the ball, I think the referee didn’t see it. Adam should keep it and then he dropped it. Then he had it again and in my opinion usually it is a foul, but then it is 1-0 and our reaction to this goal was really bad.

“It was the wrong decision but we made more wrong decisions. We lost our mind and stopped playing football – a really bad start to the game.

“Then a very easy second goal, I am not sure if he [Troy Deeney] played a pass or if he did well, but we have to defend this better, an open ball, we lost the fight for this open ball twice and they make the easy goal.

“We changed something at half-time, second half was very good. We could have scored one or two goals but you could see we didn’t. And then third goal – game over.”

Klopp had to take off Martin Skrtel with an injury before half-time, which he says is another headache ahead of the game with leaders Leicester City on Saturday.

“Martin Skrtel is injured now, that is a problem,” he said. “I don’t know who will come back in this moment. 

“Nobody had a rest, now we have to look who is available for Boxing Day.”