Jurgen Klopp rued the awarding of a late free-kick which resulted in West Ham scoring the dramatic extra-time winner to knock Liverpool out of the FA Cup.
Liverpool had fought their way back into a pulsating fourth-round tie but were undone in the dying seconds by Angelo Ogbonna’s header,when a penalty shoot-out was just moments away. Klopp, returning to the touchline having missed the Sunderland defeat at the weekend after appendix surgery, praised his team’s performance but was visibly frustrated in defeat.
Slaven Bilic, the West Ham manager, also questioned a number of decisions made by the referee, Roger East, on a night that could have seen the last FA Cup tie ever played at the Upton Park. West Ham travel to Ewood Park to play Blackburn in the fifth round on February 21st.
Ogbonna rose to head in Dimitri Payet’s cross in the first minute of injury time in extra time, but Klopp did not believe the incident involving Lucas Leiva in the build-up warranted a free-kick. “They got a free-kick without a foul and we conceded a goal,” said Klopp.
“I’m not long enough here to judge these things. If you are satisfied with the performance of the referee, write it. If not, say it. There were a lot of situations that, on a better day, I would say are funny decisions. I would have made a few different decisions, on both sides. The only reason we were here was to go to the next round, so we are disappointed.
“Liverpool in this moment is not the most sunny. 2-0 in the lead [against Sunderland], manager in hospital, out of the FA Cup, but tomorrow when we get up the sun will shine. If we want, all together, we can take a lot of positive things out of this game.”
West Ham had taken the lead through Michail Antonio's excellent volley at the end of the first half but a clever free-kick from Philippe Coutinho on his return from a long-term injury saw Liverpool equalise shortly after half-time. Daniel Sturridge also returned from injury while Christian Benteke missed a number of chances to win the match late on.
Bilic described the victory as a special night for West Ham before going on to add: “Tonight there were many fouls that in my opinion weren’t fouls.
“Of course, when you win you don’t mind it. There were many, many decisions where, OK, I can’t be objective, but I wasn’t happy.
“His [OGBONNA’S]goal is a great header, but it was not just about the goal. He was magnificent. Everyone was great in our team. Some of the players played not in their primary positions, like Michail Antonio who did a brilliant job. We didn’t have a weak link in our team.”
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