Jurgen Klopp believes Dominic Solanke’s disallowed goal in Liverpool’s goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday night was another instance of his team not being on the receiving end of good fortune from refereeing decisions.
“For me it’s twice deflected and I’m still not sure if the hand was at the ball or not. For me, it looks like chest,” Klopp told his postmatch news conference. “In the game it looked 100 percent like chest. Afterwards when I had a few replays, yeah there’s an arm, but I’m not sure if it touches the ball.
“Is it a penalty in the other box? I’m not sure. It’s not on purpose, for sure not.
“I think it was the assistant that made the decision. He will be happy probably if there was a hand involved.
“That’s another moment where we had no luck, for sure. If he doesn’t see it or was not as sure as he obviously was then it’s a goal and that’s it.”
“It was not a game for 20 chances, but I think we had seven [or] eight. We all know the boys usually score in the moments like this.
“Obviously it was not a night for 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0. If you don’t score early, that was clear. We were ready to work hard for this one moment, but it didn’t happen so that’s what we now have to accept. If you don’t score in football, you always have to accept the result.”
Meanwhile, West Brom boss Alan Pardew hailed the linesman for chalking off Solanke’s goal at a crucial point in the match.
“Initially, I thought it had hit a body and gone in,” Pardew told a news conference. “I wasn’t even sure it was an own goal from where I was sitting.
“When I did look down the sideline, the linesman didn’t move — and that’s usually a sign that something is amiss. That buoyed me.
“When I see it on the video, Ahmed [Hegazi] has got a slight touch, it’s hit Solanke and he’s swung his arm and it’s hit his arm and gone in.
“It’s still a brave call for an assistant referee to make in front of the Kop. I thank him because it was the right decision, but still a brave decision. It was perhaps a little slice of luck that we deserved.”
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