Jürgen Klopp described the red card shown to Sadio Mané in Liverpool’s 5-0 humbling at Manchester City as “very unlucky” but indicated he will not appeal the decision.
Mané was sent off by the referee, Jonathan Moss, on 36 minutes after the Senegal forward’s right boot collided with Ederson’s face as he attempted to beat the goalkeeper to a through pass. Ederson suffered a facial injury that required lengthy treatment.
The collision was accidental, Mané focusing on the ball throughout, but was high and fell under the guidelines for a dismissal for serious foul play. Not that Klopp saw it that way after what was the heaviest loss he has suffered since taking charge of Liverpool in October 2015.
“[It was] an accident. Very unlucky,” he said. “Everyone knows he didn’t see the goalie. He just wanted to get the ball as soon as possible.”
Klopp said Mané was upset about a red card that rules him out of Saturday’s visit of Burnley and two matches against Leicester City, in the Carabao Cup and the Premier League.
Asked if he would look to overturn the ban, Klopp asked: “Can we? What would be your advice? So it never works. It would be another waste of time, like the game today.”
Ederson had to leave the pitch on a stretcher and was replaced by Claudio Bravo. He was examined at a medical centre at the nearby Etihad Campus. It was confirmed that he had suffered neither concussion nor a fracture to his cheekbone.
“It is not broken the bone. That is important,” said Pep Guardiola. “He will be more beautiful after that. Hopefully he can come back soon but maybe he will not play in the next game [against Feyenoord in the Champions League on Wednesday].”
The manager praised Ederson for the bravery he showed in trying to stop Mané from scoring and was also full of praise for his side’s display, which moved City level on top of the table with Manchester United, who dropped points in their 2-2 draw with Stoke. Sergio Agüero gave the hosts the lead on 25 minutes before Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sané scored two each. “It is not easy to play against 10 but we did it well,” said Guardiola. “Offensively it is a big step forward for us.”
Klopp was critical of his side’s wastefulness. “It was a hard lesson,” he said.
