Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté escaped a sending off against Everton and was promptly substituted. Afterwards, even Jürgen Klopp showed understanding for the anger of the Toffees.
Was his player banged up? Did he want to make some tactical adjustments? Bring in fresh forces? No, after the 2-0 derby win against Everton FC, Jürgen Klopp unapologetically confirmed that he had taken Ibrahima Konaté off the pitch in the 66th minute before the referee does. The 24-year-old center-back had avoided his second yellow card for unexplained reasons when he stopped a dangerous Toffees counterattacking situation with a foul on substitute Beto.
Because Everton had already been decimated by an early yellow card against Ashley Young and the score was still 0-0 at the time of Konaté’s foul, Everton coach Sean Dyche was suitably incensed by referee Craig Pawson’s decision, calling it “ridiculous,” “baffling” and “impossible. “
“I asked the referee and he said that to his way of thinking the foul wasn’t worthy of a caution,” Dyche reported. “I think a lot of the people who were here today were amazed that that wasn’t a yellow card – including the coach, who couldn’t wait to take him down. He knows it, and we know it. “
Klopp: “With time you get over it “
With Matip on for Konaté and in sustained overtime, Liverpool still managed a deserved, if lackluster, home win. And so Klopp could easily afford to express understanding for Dyche’s frustration, with whom he had clashed repeatedly in the past. “We’ve already experienced the other side and we have to accept that,” Klopp advised, knowing full well that this truly isn’t always easy for him in particular: “It’s really hard in the first moment, but with time you get over it.”
The question of whether Liverpool would have won even with ten against ten is “hypothetical,” said Klopp, but the fact is: “We deserved to get three points. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. “