Liverpool great fumes at referee over Cristiano Ronaldo winner for Man Utd
Cristiano Ronaldo’s winning goal for Manchester United in their Champions League clash against Villarreal on Wednesday night should not have stood, according to a former Liverpool favourite.
Their match against the Spanish side appeared to be finishing 1-1, extending United’s recent disappointing run of form. However, substitute Jesse Lingard’s crucial flick supplied Ronaldo’s 95th-minute winner at the Stretford End.
After the match, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claims he may need to start giving the England man more playing time.
However, one pundit claims that represents a further sign that Solskjaer has ‘no clue’ on his best United side.
Either way, the result eases the pressure on the Norwegian somewhat. Indeed, prior to Wednesday’s game, United had lost three of the last four in all competitions.
Ronaldo’s winner, however, should not have stood, as per former Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina. Joining a band of pundits who suggests it should have been called offside, Reina made his case on social media.
Tweeting after the final whistle in defence of his former club Villarreal, Reina stated: “Offside all day long…”
In response to a fan that claimed it wasn’t offside, he added: “Enabled by who? It is in the line of the goalkeeper clearer impossible.”
The 39-year-old spent three seasons with the Spanish club before his move to Liverpool in 2005.
And despite the win, United still only remain third in their group behind top dogs Atalanta, with Young Boys second.
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Liverpool coach clears Karius of blame
Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg, meanwhile, insists the club has never blamed Loris Karius for his costly Champions League final errors.
The German stopper arrived at Anfield from Mainz in 2016 and initially competed with Simon Mignolet. However, he won his battle with the Belgian and started between the sticks in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kiev.
Liverpool competed well, but costly errors from Karius handed two goals on a plate to Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
Speaking to AD, Achterberg insisted that he and Liverpool’s coaching staff have never blamed Karius. He also pointed to Klopp’s motto of winning and losing as a team.
“You hope that your goalkeepers make as few mistakes as possible,” he said.
“Karius making a mistake in the final against Real Madrid? You win together, and you lose together. It can make or break a career, but I can’t say anything negative about him.
“No, not even in my book. Like I said, it’s not that kind of book. People should buy other books for that.
“In my book, Klopp talks about how we work together. And how it is to work every day at perhaps the biggest club on earth.”
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