Izuchukwu Okosi
Liverpool on Sunday evening released a statement condemning ‘vile chanting’ and vandalism at Anfield following the 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Egypt forward Mohamed Salah scored a goal goal that was the difference in an ill-tempered second-half on Merseyside that saw Jurgen Klopp sent to the stands and Pep Guardiola targeted with coins thrown from the crowd.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelOn the chants from the City fans in the away end, a Liverpool spokesperson said: ‘’We are deeply disappointed to hear vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies from the away section during today’s game at Anfield.
‘’The concourse in the away section was also vandalised with graffiti of a similar nature.
“We know the impact such behaviour has on the families, survivors and all those associated with such disasters.
“We are working with the relevant authorities in order to do our utmost to ensure these chants are eradicated from football altogether.’
Prior to Salah’s opener, City thought they had taken the lead through Phil Foden before it was chalked off with Erling Haaland judged to have pulled back Fabinho in the build-up.
Meanwhile Guardiola claimed he had objects thrown at him in the aftermath of the disallowed goal.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the game, Guardiola said: ‘The crowd tried [to throw coins/objects] but they didn’t touch me. Maybe next time they will be better.’
On the decision to rule out Foden’s goal, he continued: ‘’The referee said play on, play on, play on, there were a thousand million fouls like this and this one is because we scored a goal.
‘‘So they disallowed because we scored a goal, otherwise it would not have been disallowed.’’
Guardiola also aimed a dig at the match officials as he continued to protest the decision to rule out the goal in a post-match interview with Sky Sports.
‘‘The referee decided before the game to go to Jurgen Klopp and my assistant coaches and say, “Here it’s play on, play on, I’m not going to whistle any fouls”.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
