Jurgen Klopp was adamant that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty in the 99th minute when Jeremy Doku’s high boot caught Alexis Mac Allister inside the penalty area.
Minutes before the appeal and with the game tied at 1-1, Doku had gone close to snatching the win for City when his shot crashed off Caoimhin Kelleher’s post.
The Belgian then had a scare up at the other end in stoppage time when his high boot on Mac Allister prompted a VAR check, but he was cleared by the officials, allowing City to hold on for a draw in another captivating chapter of an epic rivalry between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.
Klopp was left bemused after the dust had settled and Anfield and said that anyone in the footballing world knows that it should have been a penalty.
Klopp said: “In all positions on the pitch, it is 100 per cent a foul and it’s a yellow card. They said he hit the ball, but he can only do that because his foot is right there. But if the ball is not there, he kills him – the foot has nothing to do with it.
“It is as easy as that. For all football people on the planet, it’s a penalty. If you don’t think it is one, then maybe you are not a football person.”
Klopp then reflected on the game and said in the second half it was the best his Liverpool side have ever performed against Guardiola’s City.
“It was a really good football game,” Klopp said.
“That was the best performance in the second half we’ve played against Man City.
“We have never dominated so much, we never had them there, we never made so many good decisions, never were so brave, it was unbelievable. Exceptional.
“I’m really happy with the whole performance. The first 10 minutes, maybe we needed a little bit, but after that, we were fully there. What a game, what an atmosphere, what an afternoon.”
