Klopp: Mane red decisive… and wrong!

Jurgen Klopp revealed he was close to being sent to the stands after protesting referee Jon Moss’ game-changing decision to dismiss Sadio Mane in Liverpool’s 5-0 loss to Manchester City.

The German took issue with Mane’s red card, which came after the forward’s boot connected with City goalkeeper Ederson’s face as the pair challenged for a bouncing ball late in the first half.

It was only 1-0 at the time and City went on to punish their numerically disadvantaged visitors, leaving Klopp to rue the decision, as well as his side’s profligacy.

“Mr Moss was close to sending me to the stands,” the German told Sky Sports.

“I don’t know what he thought, I only said to the fourth official I thought it was not a red.

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“Whatever happens, it’s unlucky. Sadio would not mean to do that. Sadio feels bad and hopefully the goalkeeper is not too serious.

“We have to take it. It’s hard. We lost the game, we were not too bad in the beginning. Now we have to show a reaction.

“I really hope that the people who judge this situation think about football. It was an accident.”

Having seen Sergio Aguero open the scoring before Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane helped themselves to two apiece following Mane’s departure, Klopp felt his men had wasted chances to put a different spin on things.

“My biggest problem is that we had some big chances to score that we didn’t take,” he added following the biggest loss of his Liverpool tenure.

“The first goal we concede is really unnecessary. It wasn’t smart.

“The decisive situation is the red card. I don’t see it as a bad foul. I’ve seen the goalkeeper and he is okay. Yes, it looked bad at first, but it is unlucky to play against City with 10 men.

“And then you felt the intensity lacking from the boys who played last week [during the international break]. There weren’t a lot of right decisions from us.

“You have to defend better. It’s a very bad experience, but you have to take what you get and make the best of it.”

Next up for the Reds is the visit of Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday.