Newcastle United have received plaudits from Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp for their performance against the Reds on Sunday afternoon.
In-form Liverpool had won three of their last four heading into the game, while the Magpies had only secured two victories all season, so the odds were certainly stacked against Newcastle.
In spite of this, Steve McClaren’s side churned out their best performance of the past few weeks to secure a 2-0 victory at home to Klopp’s side.
After the game, in his post-match press conference, Klopp was very honest about his side’s poor performance but did credit Newcastle for their impressive performance.
“Nearly everything [went wrong for Liverpool], I would say – the start, the middle and the end,” Klopp said, as quoted by Liverpool’s club website.
“This was obviously not a really good football game. It was 50 per cent because of Newcastle, 50 per cent because of Liverpool.
“In a situation like Newcastle’s, it’s absolutely okay to play like this because they didn’t do too badly. They were playing build-up, they didn’t create chances, but we didn’t create chances either.
“It was an open game but no rhythm from our side; our defending in the last line was good, the middle didn’t defend well together, our midfield pressing was not good, I couldn’t see offensive pressing.
“We always had to run the long way in defence. Dejan, Martin and the two full-backs did a really good job. But we were not creative enough so we had no chances.
They got the goal and it was something like a Christmas present.
“The second goal I’m not interested in, it’s normal, a counter-attack. We have to take this game and think about why it happened – that’s not the biggest issue in the world.
“We feel this defeat. We know for today it’s deserved but it hurts – like it should do.”
Klopp wasn’t the only one praising Newcastle for their performance – Newcastle club legend Alan Shearer also tweeted his delight:
Wow what a result. When you’re committed and work hard, the rest follows. Great win at last. Well done @NUFC!!
— @alanshearer
