Jurgen Klopp hailed Darwin Nunez’s last-gasp winner in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest as the perfect response to the City Ground boo-boys.
Nunez marked his return from a three-game injury lay-off by heading home Alexis Mac Allister’s cross in the ninth minute of added time to lift his side four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
As Nunez stepped off the bench in the second half, a section of Forest fans chanted: “You’re just a sxxx Andy Carroll”, in reference to the Uruguay international’s pony-tail, which is similar to the one worn by the former Liverpool striker.
Klopp, who claimed the win was among his side’s biggest of the season, said: “It’s such an important goal, which gives you three points. It’s always super-decisive and, especially for him, super-deserved.
“Before people start singing that song more often, it’s the best way to immediately calm it down.
“But they can sing it if Darwin responds like he did today. Before that he had really good moments. (He forced) a sensational save off the goalie, he was immediately in the game.”
When asked if Nunez understood the song, Klopp added: “I understood it. Yes, I think he understands it, so that’s the best answer.”
Klopp was delighted his injury-hit side has been able to keep racking up the wins – their fourth in 11 days – following last week’s Carabao Cup triumph.
“How the boys fought through that is really special,” he added. “The fourth game was the toughest. It was really an unbelievable effort. The boys put in a proper, proper shift.”
Forest were incensed by referee Paul Tierney’s decision to hand the ball to Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher after halting play while the home side were in possession for an apparent head injury to Ibrahima Konate shortly before the visitors’ winner.
Home players and staff surrounded Tierney at the final whistle – coach Steven Reid was shown a red card – while Forest later dismissed reports that club owner Evangelos Marinakis had to be restrained by security staff in the tunnel.
Forest’s referee analyst Mark Clattenburg claimed after the match that the game’s rules state Tierney should have handed possession back to Forest.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo refused to comment on the incident, but could not hide his disappointment.
Anthony Elanga spurned Forest’s best two chances, foiled in a first-half one-on-one by Kelleher before firing narrowly wide from Harry Toffolo’s cross after the interval.
“Not only that, it was the final pass, in the right moment,” Nuno said. “We will keep trying. We will repeat on the training ground until we get it right.
“But we limited them very well. We controlled the middle of the park, always covering ourselves, the wingers helping the full-backs, controlling the box and when we had the ball we had the right idea – we go forward.
“We had moments of good football, but took nothing from the game, so it’s tough to take because our fans deserve to go home after a game like today happy, but they’re not, so we will try.”
Guardiola 'cannot imagine' Man City's Premier League success without Ederson
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's Premier League dominance in recent seasons would not have been possible without Ederson.
The Brazil goalkeeper's future at the Etihad Stadium is uncertain, amid speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
Ederson has been an integral figure for City since his arrival from Benfica in 2017, with 112 clean sheets in 250 Premier League appearances under Guardiola, while recording a save percentage of 68.17.
The 30-year-old conceded just 26 goals last season as the Citizens won an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title - and their sixth since he joined the club.
Ederson's distribution has also been crucial to City's success, notably completing 942 of his 1,097 passes last term (85.87%).
"I wish from the bottom of my heart Eddie will continue with us," Guardiola said. "I would love him to stay.
"I cannot imagine our processes succeeding these last seasons without him. He is an important figure in the locker room."
Ederson could feature for City on Saturday when they continue their pre-season tour of the United States against Paulo Fonseca's Milan at the Yankee Stadium.
Ten Hag targets further transfers as Man Utd prioritise squad depth
Erik ten Hag wants more transfer activity ahead of his third season in charge of Manchester United, saying the Red Devils must work to replicate their rivals' strength in depth.
Ten Hag signed a new contract after overseeing United's FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May, having previously been expected to depart.
Ahead of their first full season under the Jim Ratcliffe regime, United have spent an estimated £88million to acquire forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and centre-back Leny Yoro from Lille.
But after United suffered more injuries causing a player to miss at least one match (45) than any other Premier League team last term, Ten Hag believes more is required.
"I want the squad as strong as possible," Ten Hag told reporters at a press conference ahead of Saturday's friendly versus Arsenal.
"We already made two very good buys, so when everyone is fit we have a team that can beat everyone.
"But also in squad depth, we have to catch up. We know that because when we had injuries, we were vulnerable, and we have to avoid this.
"First, by picking up fewer injuries. And second, our squad has to be that good in depth.
"Of course, we have the quality, but in the depth we have to catch up even more, because this will be a season that is survival of the fittest.
"We proved we can beat the best team. Not just once, we did it twice. Our challenge is to do it consistently, that's what we have to work for."
Slot hopes Jones 'recovers fast' after limping off against Betis
Arne Slot says Liverpool are waiting to discover the extent of Curtis Jones' injury, after the midfielder was forced off during the Reds' 1-0 victory over Real Betis.
The Dutchman oversaw his first win since replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring the only goal in Pittsburgh.
It was the first match of the Reds' pre-season tour of the United States, though it remains to be seen how much of a part Jones will play after he limped off on the half-hour mark.
However, Slot said the decision to withdraw the midfielder was precautionary.
"I think it's too early to tell [how bad it is]," he told reporters during his post-match press conference. "Maybe he could have played on, but I think maybe you could see he was not at 100%.
"In a friendly game, with so many days coming up in our tour, it was best to take him off. We hope he recovers really fast, so we can see him in the next few games.
"It's always a pity if he has to go off after 25 minutes, half an hour. And before that, you could see that he was not completely free.
"It was unfortunate because he had two really good weeks during the training sessions, so I looked forward to seeing him in the game, but unfortunately he had to go off.
Trey Nyoni replaced Jones for the remainder of the game, and Slot was pleased by the 17-year-old's impact.
"The good thing about that was that we brought someone [on] that impressed me in the 45 minutes to an hour he played afterwards.
"I think [Trey] did really well today, but it was only an hour. He was one of the reasons why we scored the goal, because he turned really quickly and [played] a spot-on pass in between the lines. And he was also involved in the biggest chance in the second half.
"We are really careful with him. So he doesn't join every session, and sometimes he goes off a bit earlier. You can see his quality, but you can also see his body still needs some time to grow to play at Premier League level. But he showed some interesting things today.
I think there were a few positive things and, of course, a few things we have to improve. But the positive thing is that we kept a clean sheet. I think we only conceded one big chance and that was somewhere around the last 10 minutes of the game.
"So, we controlled the game really well and, in between, we had a few good attacks where we created a few good chances and scored a good goal."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
