Arne Slot said referee John Brooks wanted to prove he wouldn’t be intimidated by the Anfield crowd in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.
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Slot not happy with referee decisions
Despite the Reds maintaining the top spot in the Premier League, Slot was not happy with Brooks’ officiating.
Sunday’s game featured several VAR checks, including Tosin Adarabioyo receiving a yellow card for pulling back Diogo Jota as he threatened to advance toward the goal.
Liverpool were also denied a spot-kick after it was deemed goalkeeper Robert Sanchez didn’t foul Curtis Jones.
Regardless, Liverpool secured all three points, returning them to the top of the Premier League.
Slot suggested that his side would have won comfortably if the officials took a different stance.
Nonetheless, the Dutchman gave credit to the fans at Anfield for their support.
“The fans were really important for us. I don’t know if this is something people say in England but they said at my former club, which was also an impressive stadium, that ‘yeah, the referees are a bit impressed by the crowd and that’s why you get the easy decisions in your favour.”
“But today showed no matter how loud the fans were, the referee just wanted to show that he was able not to give the decisions he had to make. So it didn’t help us with the referee but it definitely helped our players because they had to work so hard.”
“If every time they cheer so hard for you if you make a block tackle, or Darwin [Núñez] sprinted back, or all these moments, that definitely helps you mentally. They were really important for the players but unfortunately, it didn’t happen what all people always think that Anfield always gives you easy penalties.”
“Is that true or not? Today, it showed again that it wasn’t.”
Hardest victory yet
Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool the lead after converting a 29th-minute penalty.
Curtis Jones scored the game-winning goal three minutes later after a cross from Salah.
Slot described Sunday’s win over Chelsea as the “hardest” earned victory so far.
“Many other games were hard but this might have been the hardest maybe because of the amount of quality players they have and the structure they have,” the Dutchman said. “We had to fight really hard to get this one over the line.”
