Jurgen Klopp moans about conceding three ‘unnecessary’ goals in 3-2 defeat to Manchester City

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes his side conceded three ‘unnecessary’ goals to Manchester City after his side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in a thrilling last-16 tie.

Goals from Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake made sure City edged a five-goal thriller 3-2 – despite Liverpool’s Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Salah giving the Reds hope.

Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead three times during the game, first through Erling Haaland – who scored just ten minutes into City’s return to action following the World Cup break.

Jurgen Klopp believes his side conceded three ‘unnecessary’ goals to Manchester City in their 3-2 defeat

Klopp admitted that his side were not at their best tonight but believes there is a lot to take from the defeat

His smartly finished goal was cancelled out by Carvalho’s well-taken first-half finish before Salah brought things level once more, just a minute after Mahrez had reinstated City’s lead early in the second-half.

Klopp’s men, who mustered just two shots on target, also leaked goals at the back and were sent crashing out the cup after Ake’s 58th minute header was the difference. 

Speaking to Sky Sports after the full-time whistle, the Liverpool boss said: ‘Difficult first 15 minutes us definitely. We played a formation we are not used to playing. In pre-season we had Bobby in the centre, Oxlade on the wing which helps things. Then we had to change after the last session. You could see we needed time to adapt.

Nathan Ake grabbed the winning goal with a header in the second half during a pulsating last-16 encounter at the Etihad

Erling Haaland took just 10 minutes to open the scoring, darting in front of Joe Gomez to volley in a Kevin De Bruyne cross

‘When we were compact, we are our moments. They are a super, super, super side who do things extremely well. In midfield, you have to be really spot on. The first 15 minutes, we really struggled and that kills the confidence and the conviction.

‘Good for half-time, all ok. Second half starts and they score second goal with first shot. It was world class from Riyad but we could have done more before that.

‘The goals we conceded were all unnecessary. When you see the third goal, we changed before and that meant new organisation. We watched the ball. We all expect Nathan to win that header, but behind that is nobody apart from two City players.

‘The goals were unnecessary, the rest was a difficult game for both teams. We had good spells, played good football and could have score more goals. It’s a result we have to live with, that’s it.’

Klopp admitted that his side were not at their best tonight. ‘It was a high intensity game, it is normal,’ he added. 

‘We played a good game but it wasn’t enough tonight. We weren’t on top of our game tonight. There is a lot we can take from tonight.’

Liverpool will try to put their cup defeat behind them as they to Premier League action with a trip to Aston Villa on Boxing Day before hosting Leicester on December 30.