Jurgen Klopp tells referee Paul Tierney ‘I only have problems with you’ as Harry Kane avoids ‘definite’ red card for tackle on Andy Robertson

Jurgen Klopp confronted referee Paul Tierney on the pitch after his ten-man Liverpool side were held to a draw against Tottenham in controversial circumstances.

Harry Kane scored his first home league goal of the season to give Spurs an early lead, but efforts from Diogo Jota and Andy Robertson either side of half-time put Liverpool 2-1 up.

Heung-Min Son then levelled the scores with 15 minutes to play as the thriller finished 2-2. Spurs could have won the game as Robertson picked up a red card for a foul on Emerson Royal minutes later.

However, that doesn’t tell the whole story, with goal-scorer Kane lucky to complete the match after only being given a yellow card for a firm challenge on Robertson on 20 minutes.

The England captain came barrelling in on his Scottish counterpart, making heavy contact with his ankle as Robertson luckily jumped out the way to avoid serious injury.

Kane walked away with just a caution, but Robertson wasn’t so lucky when he was dismissed for a nasty kick-out at Emerson in the 77th minute.

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Klopp had already confronted Tierney in the tunnel at half time for the earlier incident, which almost saw the German removed from the dugout.

But after the final whistle he hadn’t calmed down, getting in a heated discussion with the referee as his side were left three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Liverpool boss could be heard talking to Tierney on the pitch, saying: “I have no problems with any referees, it’s only you. Honestly, I have no problems with any referees, only you.”

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Klopp was asked about the red card incidents after the game, and complained about a lack of consistency.

“Robbo red card, it’s not the smartest challenge of his life that’s how it is,” Klopp said.

“But that’s definitely a red card [for Kane]. No doubt about that, people will say ‘but his leg is in the air’ but that’s pure coincidence.

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“Harry cannot judge that, if Robbo’s leg is on the ground then it’s a broken leg, there’s no doubt about that.”

Kane was asked if his yellow card should have been a red, to which he replied: “No, no definitely not, I thought it was a strong tackle but I thought I won the ball.

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“When you’re playing against top sides and you’re fighting for points all over the place sometimes there’s going to be strong tackles.

“I haven’t seen it back but from on the pitch it didn’t feel like it and even Andy on the pitch said ‘oh you just caught my foot, I don’t think it’s a foul’. 

“I think sometimes when you slow stuff down in football it makes it looks worse than what it is but that’s what VAR is there for.”

Despite Klopp’s fury at full time, he wasn’t annoyed with everyone in either white or black, with Kane’s wingman Son even managing to crack a laugh out of the Liverpool boss.

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