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Soccer

Jurgen Klopp gives blunt assessment of referees in Carabao Cup final

Jurgen Klopp gives blunt assessment of referees in Carabao Cup finalGetty Images
There were several contentious calls made on Sunday.

Sunday's Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool was a contentious one, with the game requiring extra time to decide a winner.

Virgil van Dijk's 118th-minute header was ultimately the difference between the sides, but the late dramatics weren't the only narrative surrounding the game as there were a number of decisions made by the match officials that earned scorn online from fans and pundits alike.

Before scoring the late winner, Van Dijk nodded the ball past Chelsea goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović in the second half for what appeared to be the game's opening goal, but an off-the-ball foul was deemed to have been committed by Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endō by the VAR, who successfully advised the referee to call the goal back.

While the disallowed goal was arguably the most talked-about incident in the match, an earlier set of decisions by the match officials irked Jurgen Klopp enough to earn post-game criticism from the Liverpool manager despite the victory.

Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was forced to exit the match midway through the first half after receiving a tackle that didn't earn a foul for Chelsea, drawing the ire of Klopp in his post-match comments.

"There were two teams fighting very hard, and the referee didn't have the level of the game," Klopp told Sky Sports. 

"It was not even a foul?! Then the fourth official explaining we cannot give a card... good idea. This situation was obvious for me, everything you need for a card."

Klopp offered an update on Gravenberch but noted that it may be too early to know the full extent of the 21-year-old's injury.

"They did an x-ray [on Gravenberch], it is not broken but the ligaments got something," he said. 

"I actually feel really bad, but everything else is really good."

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