Mohamed Salah came on after 67 minutes to score two and help Liverpool see off Stoke City in comfortable fashion. Mohamed Salah came on after 67 minutes to score two and help Liverpool see off Stoke City in comfortable fashion.
STOKE-ON-TRENT -- Jurgen Klopp believes referee Martin Atkinson made the right decision to not send off Simon Mignolet during Liverpool 3-0 victory over Stoke City on Tuesday night.
Liverpool ran out resounding winners at the bet365 courtesy of Sadio Mane's goal in the first half before Mohamed Salah came off the substitutes' bench to net a second-half double, taking his goalscoring tally to 17 for the season.
But Stoke and their supporters were incensed when referee Martin Atkinson only gave Simon Mignolet a yellow card in the 39th minute for bringing down Mame Biram Diouf right on the edge of the penalty area.
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However, speaking at his postmatch news conference, Klopp felt Atkinson correctly applied the rules correctly by not giving Liverpool's goalkeeper his marching orders.
He said: "We needed a little bit of luck in the situation on the yellow card for Simon Mignolet -- I don't think it was a red card -- but of course they could have scored in this situation.
"That's the reason, that's the rule. If you think the single foul was a red card, I might have to see it again but I don't think it was, but he's not the last man. There were two covering players in our shirt. That's the rule, pretty clear."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes, meanwhile, saw the incident differently and felt his side were not on the receiving end of beneficial refereeing decisions on Wednesday night.
Prior to Liverpool's opening goal in the 17th minute, the home side were adamant the ball had gone out for a goal-kick in the build-up to Mane's finish.
Stoke City players argue with the referee over a red card shout for Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
On the Mignolet decision, Hughes said: "That's the key moment in the game from our point of view.
"I just don't understand why the referee and the officials couldn't see that for what it was -- a clear goal-scoring opportunity. If the keeper doesn't wipe Mame Diouf out, it's a tap-in into an empty net and, at that point, it's 1-1 and game on. It came at a time when we were in the ascendancy I felt, asking questions of them.
"We obviously went down to a poor goal from our point of view, which was a little bit contentious as well because we felt the ball had gone out.
"I'm not sure if it did, but usually as a home team you get the benefit of the doubt in those situations. I don't think we got the benefit of the doubt from the officials on too many occasions tonight, to be perfectly honest.
He added: "It's frustration. The one thing you want from the referees and officials is to get the key decisions, the match-defining decisions right. In my view, he didn't unfortunately tonight."
Klopp says the win over the Potters was a reward for their performance as Liverpool jumped up to fifth in the Premier League table, overtaking Tottenham Hotspur, who fell to Leicester City on Tuesday.
"It was hard work but that's how football should be, especially when you go to a place like Stoke. No surprise," he added.
"We could have made it a little easier for us in the first half, made use of two fantastic chances we had, we were not lucky or anything, brilliant play but we didn't use them.
"Second half, still an open game, should have been more clear with better passing and being more cool -- but of course the atmosphere and [Peter] Crouch was there.
"We changed twice, two fantastic goals, brilliant play, especially the second. The third was a nice counter-attack and nice finishing. Well deserved but hard work, that's how it is, no problem with that."
Glenn is ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter: @GlennPrice94.
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Source: espn.co.uk