LASK head coach Thomas Sageder raised doubts about the legitimacy of Liverpool’s second goal in the Reds’ 3-1 Europa League group stage victory.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time in Austria, Jürgen Klopp’s side staged a second-half comeback, securing victory through a Darwin Núñez penalty and goals from Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah. Sageder expressed uncertainty regarding the decision to award Liverpool a penalty after Díaz was tripped in the box.
However, his main contention was with a potential foul in the build-up to the Colombian’s goal. Sageder said: “We could compete against Liverpool but we have to develop certain things. You can take positives from every loss and that is what I will tell my players. We actually expected it (their line-up) like that.
“We didn’t focus on the names. In the second half, we saw that Liverpool is a top team. It was very hard for us to win balls and create situations. The penalty, I don’t know, I will have to check it. Before the second goal, I think there was a foul against us but I will have to check it later.”
In response to Klopp’s complaints about the pitch at Raiffeisen Arena, Sageder downplayed the issue, stating: “Maybe Mr Klopp is used to different pitches. But I think it was okay and not a big deal.”
Klopp had said: “The atmosphere is great but the pitch is really bad, so I’m glad we didn’t play here in December. It was a great experience; really loved the atmosphere.”
