Jurgen Klopp apologises for outburst at fourth official after Chelsea draw

Posted Wednesday, February 01, 2017 by theguardian.com

Antonio Conte praised Chelsea's personality on a significant night in the Premier League title race that left Jurgen Klopp apologising for a furious outburst towards the fourth official.

Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at Liverpool but boast a nine-point lead at the summit after both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to close the gap with defeat against Watford and a draw at Sunderland respectively. Liverpool remain 10 points behind the leaders but ended a recent run of three successive home defeats when Georginio Wijnaldum equalised following David Luiz's opener and Simon Mignolet saved Diego Costa's 76th-minute penalty.

Klopp claimed he had no dispute with Chelsea's penalty, given for a trip by Jo?l Matip on Costa, but believed Liverpool should have had a free-kick in the buildup for a foul by the striker on Dejan Lovren.

When Mignolet saved the Liverpool manager went face-to-face with the fourth official, Neil Swarbrick, but insisted the confrontation was not as ugly as it appeared on camera. "I turned to him [Swarbrick] and said: 'Nobody can beat us.' Obviously that is absolutely not true but that's what I said in this moment.

"I went back to the fourth official and said: 'Sorry – you are the wrong person to speak to.' He said: 'No problem, I like your passion.' I have never heard that from an official before. That was cool."

Despite missing the chance to seal another important victory with Costa's spot-kick, the Chelsea manager insisted he was proud of the team's performance. "Half and half," Conte said of his emotions.

"I am pleased with the performance because it isn't easy to play Liverpool after three defeats, or in the atmosphere at Anfield. I was a footballer and know it is very difficult. For that reason I am pleased with my players for the personality they have showed me. For sure it is a good point. When you have a good chance with a penalty after 76 minutes you think you could win and take three points but Diego hit it well and Mignolet made a great save. After that we had two chances to get a second but didn't."

Conte believes Chelsea can underline their improvement on Saturday when they host Arsenal, who beat his team 3-0 earlier in the season. "This could be a good chance for us to show in we are a totally different team if you compare to the previous game," he said. "It will be really tough, but it is very important to play at Stamford Bridge."

Conte reiterated there is no prospect of Costa leaving Chelsea for China next month while Klopp insisted: "If I had played against Costa we could never be friends. That's how it is but when you have him in your team it's much more fun. I don't know if it was a dive for the penalty. No one has said anything to me."