Klopp baffled Kompany escaped red for Salah lunge

Jurgen Klopp was left bemused as to how Vincent Kompany escaped a red card for a first-half lunge on Mohamed Salah in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool on Thursday.

City claimed a potentially vital win in the title race, as they moved back to within four points of the Reds at the top of the table.

Defeat would have left Pep Guardiola’s men 10 points adrift of Klopp’s side, and the Reds would surely have fancied their chances of emerging victorious had Kompany been dismissed in the first period.

The Belgian defender threw himself into a tackle on Salah to stop the Egyptian charging through on goal, with Kompany leaving the ground and never appearing to be in complete control.

He was shown a yellow card for the incident, but Klopp was left confused as to how Kompany was not given his marching orders.

10 – Liverpool have lost 10 of their 25 matches in all competitions under Jurgen Klopp in the month of January (W8 D7), making up 29% of his total defeats as Reds boss (10 of 35). Dry. pic.twitter.com/bm5fCwkQYc

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 3, 2019

Speaking to Sky Sports, Klopp said: “I really like Vincent Kompany, but how on Earth is that not a red card?

“He is the last man and he goes in. If he hits Mo [Salah] more, he is out for the season. It is not easy for the ref and he may not see it how I see it.”

Kompany was convinced it was a good tackle, however, and never thought about letting Salah escape.

He added: “I thought it was a great challenge, was it not? I got the ball, a little bit of the man, but it wasn’t naughty.

“I didn’t try to injure him. It was that or let him go through on goal, and in my mind there was only one outcome.”