Klopp surprised by Salah’s decision to allow Firmino to take the penalty
Jurgen Klopp said that he almost ‘cried’ after Mo Salah let Roberto Firmino take Liverpool’s penalty in the second half in the 5-1 whitewash of Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday. Arsenal took the lead early in the first half through Ainsley Maitland-Niles but Roberto Firmino’s quickfire brace followed by strikes from Sadio Mane and Salah made it 4-1 for the hosts before halftime.
Arsenal failed to muster any meaningful reply in the second half and Mo Salah let Firmino complete his hat-trick after Liverpool were gifted a penalty by Sead Kolasinac’s nudge on Dejan Lovren.
However, Klopp was absolutely surprised by Salah’s compassionate decision to allow the Brazilian to take the penalty but lauded the talisman’s sportsmanship.
“We knew in the second half that the game wasn’t finished, so we wanted to control it,” Klopp told BBC Sport.
“Mo Salah gave the penalty to Bobby [Firmino] and I almost cried because we all know how much Mo wants to score goals. It was really nice.”
Klopp was also keen to laud Liverpool’s response to initially falling behind, as they bounced back emphatically and swiftly.
“The response [to going behind] was world class,” Klopp said. “We stayed calm and really forced the mistakes.
“Firmino’s second when Sadio [Mane] won the ball – wow. It was perfect defending.”
Up next for Liverpool in the Premier League is a trip to defending champions Manchester City on January 3.
