Juergen Klopp’s hopes of a dream send-off were left in tatters on Wednesday after a 2-0 loss against Everton dealt a major blow to Liverpool’s Premier League title bid.
Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park meant Klopp tasted a bitter defeat in his last Merseyside derby before standing down at the end of the season.
“I can only apologize for today to the people. We should have done better, and we didn’t and that’s why we lost,” Klopp said.
Photo: AP
The loss kept Liverpool three points behind league leaders Arsenal in second place and one ahead of defending champions Manchester City, who are in third and have two games in hand on both of the teams above.
Klopp had spoken last week of needing perfection to win his second title at the club, but this was the latest setback for his team, who have lost two of their past three games in the league.
While the result hurt Liverpool’s title chances, it delivered a boost to Everton’s survival bid, with the win moving Sean Dyche’s team eight points above the relegation zone.
Photo: AFP
That fact seemed to be of less concern to the home fans, who were too busy reveling in the damage caused to Liverpool’s season.
“You lost the league at Goodison Park,” they chanted as the final whistle approached and the majority of the 39,000 crowd remained inside the stadium to drink in the atmosphere as the players celebrated on the field.
“I’m very disappointed. We let it happen exactly the game that Everton wanted,” Klopp said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Elsewhere, Manchester United survived another scare — twice coming from behind to beat bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United 4-2.
Having been taken to the wire by second-tier Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, Erik ten Hag’s team looked in danger of dropping points in their bid to qualify for Europe.
Sheffield United led 1-0 and then 2-1 through goals from Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton Diaz in each half at Old Trafford, but Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes from the penalty spot leveled on each occasion.
Fernandes put United ahead in the 81st minute and Rasmus Hojlund sealed the points four minutes later.
United moved up to sixth in the Premier League standings, 13 points behind Aston Villa in fourth.
Crystal Palace ensured top-flight safety after Jean-Philippe Mateta struck twice in a 2-0 win against Newcastle United.
They moved to 39 points, 14 clear of 18th-place Luton Town, who can only pick up a maximum of 37 if they win their final four games of the season.
Newcastle dropped to seventh.
AFC Bournemouth beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Molineux through Antoine Semenyo’s first-half strike.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS