Jurgen Klopp admitted "football is not a fairytale"
after Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man
Southampton in Sunday's Premier League clash
at Anfield.
Half-time substitute Christian Benteke headed
Liverpool ahead with 13 minutes remaining, but
Sadio Mane earned the Saints a point with a
close-range 86th-minute equaliser before picking
up two bookings in injury time.
The result was Klopp's third draw in a row since
taking over at Anfield following the sacking of
Brendan Rodgers, but the former Borussia
Dortmund coach says it will take time for him to
turn things around on Merseyside.
"Of course this moment is not the best moment
in the week because we wasted a lot of energy,"
he told BBC Sport. "Southampton haven't lost
away from home so we had to work hard. You
score the goal and you want to win, but it didn't
happen tonight.
"Football is not a fairytale. Sometimes we write
stories like this but it doesn't happen. You see
these guys can play football, are technically
strong and physically strong but you saw how big
the disappointment after Southampton was.
"It's only a goal, only a game of football! It's like
it's the last thing in your life and we have to calm
this down. We can change a lot of things if it's
necessary but not all things will work from the
start. If you are on something you are not 100
percent better the next day.
"It's not what you can change in a short time but
what we can change and take into the next
game. It's our situation so no problem. We can
play Wednesday and that's our next chance."
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman was delighted
with his side's response to Benteke's opener,
telling BBC Sport: "We deserved at least one point
but honestly it was not our best performance but
we had a good reaction after going down to a
great goal from Christian Benteke.
"Our defensive organisation is good, it is difficult
to create chances against us. Teams like
Liverpool, if they have a change in management,
there is always a change in expectation. I know
that, I have played for big teams and I know the
expectation on the manager of Liverpool is always
bigger than that of Southampton."
Southampton goal scorer Mane added of his
dismissal and the result: "Liverpool are a big
team. For my red card it was two yellows cards. It
was unfortunate and I am footballer so I will
always say I didn't deserve it. The team works
together and maybe I score the goal but it's
important to get points for my team."

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

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