Klopp: I apologised to fourth official after Costa penalty miss

Liverpool's Roberto Firmino in action with Chelsea's Pedro Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed he apologised to the fourth official during their 1-1 draw to Chelsea, for an overzealous celebration after Diego Costa missed a crucial penalty.

The German said he was sorry for acting over-excited after the Chelsea striker’s late spot-kick was saved by Simon Mignolet.

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“Nobody can beat us, is what I said. Obviously that is not true. But in the moment it felt like that for me. Then I went back to the official and said you were the wrong person to say it to, I said sorry I was a bit excited and he said, no problem I like your passion.

“Which I have never heard before from a fourth official, so I thought it made sense that you all knew about it,” Klopp said at the post-match press conference.

“If I had to play against Diego Costa we could never be friends. That is how it is. But on the other hand the biggest respect, because when you have him in your team it is much more fun. So I have no idea if it was a dive or not, he’s a warrior,” Klopp added.

Klopp was proud of his side’s second half performance, Georginio Wijnaldum’s close-range header 11 minutes after the break ensuring the Reds avoided a fourth home defeat in a row.

“I am happy with the performance. It was obvious that we played against a strong and experienced side. I thought we did well from the first second we were into the game, we were aggressive. It looked for me like tonight we played in red shirts, readiness, passion, will and greed against experience and coolness.

“I really prefer a draw like this with a good performance than three points, instead of having no idea what we did. But the best thing would have been this performance and the three points. Obviously it was night a perfect match for us but we saved the penalty and so it is okay.

“I am really fine with the performance. I am happy that we could give a little sign that we are still part of the league and playing football and sometimes really good,” the Liverpool boss stated.

The Reds remain in fourth position in the table, ten points adrift of Chelsea at the top, but Klopp is pleased his side showed once again they can compete with the top sides.