Jürgen Klopp described his first win against Manchester United as a perfect result as his side took a giant stride towards the Europa League quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory.
Goals either side of the interval from Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino were the least Liverpool deserved on an evening when goalkeeping heroics from David de Gea prevented an even more impressive scoreline.
“De Gea is an excellent goalkeeper, no surprise there, but we are in a good position now,” the Liverpool manager said. “I don’t think we are through, but after creating so many chances the second goal was important.
“We have not found it easy to make chances against Manchester United in the past but tonight there were a lot. I think 2-0 is a perfect result. Everything is okay, nothing to criticise. Tonight we were good from the first minute to the last, and apart from a few minutes in the second half when United changed their system, we controlled the game. It is only the first leg, but we needed to win it, and that’s what we did.”
Klopp was aware of the elbow by Marouane Fellaini on Emre Can at the end that could mean the already booked Belgian collects a retrospective red card for the second leg, but preferred not to comment on it.
“I am not a referee, it is better if I do not say anything, but you can write what you want,” he said.
The German was aware, too, of the Spanish official Carlos Velasco Carballo's reputation for dishing out yellow cards and had warned his players to be careful, only so see Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutino and Dejan Lovren cautioned.
“Tonight the referee did not decide the game, so I do not need to say anything, but those bookings could still be a problem in later rounds,” he said.
Louis van Gaal was of the opinion the referee had decided the game, calling the penalty for the first goal cheap and the second-half goal nasty.
“I have seen the video and Henderson was offside when he crossed for the second goal,” the United manager said. “If you are sharp enough to see the penalty in the first half I think you have to be sharp enough to see the offside in the second. It was a nasty goal to give away. Liverpool deserved their win, but both their goals were cheap.”
After exaggerating Fellaini’s role in proceedings by referring to him as one of the best players on the pitch, when in fact the midfielder’s performance was poor, Van Gaal was honest enough to accept his side had been well beaten.
“We could not cope with Liverpool’s high pressing, they did that very well,” the United manager said. “In previous games we have been able to build from the back but on this occasion we could not get it going. We did not create many chances and Liverpool created big ones, so I do not deny the performance was disappointing, but we still have a chance in the second leg if we can create an atmosphere at Old Trafford like the one at Anfield.”
That may prove more difficult than overturning a two goal deficit, since Old Trafford is rarely a cauldron whereas the Liverpool support exceeded even Klopp’s expectations.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed,” Klopp said.
“As I said, it was a perfect night for us, and the supporters played a full part. Being involved in that was special. It was the Liverpool I imagined before I came here.”
(Guardian service)
