2 hours ago
9
Arne Slot said a 'clear and obvious error' had denied his side pulling level in the first half but the Dutchman was reluctant to blame that decision for the defeat.
Virgil van Dijk thought he had equalised but saw his header chalked off due to Andy Robertson being adjudged as offside and interfering with play.
Slot said: 'He didn't interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. Immediately after the game someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed – City against Wolves last season (when Bernardo Silva was on the line for a John Stones header).
'So it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it was offside. So there was clearly communication, but as I said that (goal) could have influenced the game in a positive way for us.
'I would like to emphasise the fact that being 2-0 down at half-time was a fair reflection of how the game went.
'This can happen in football. For me it was a wrong decision that this goal was not allowed, but I will not say because of that we lost the game.
Arne Slot said a 'clear and obvious error' denied his side levelling against Manchester City
Virgil van Dijk wheeled away in celebration but the Liverpool equaliser was chalked off by VAR
'After 1-1, if City kept on playing like they did then we would have struggled as well.'
Slot also said his tactics did not work and added: 'It's easy for players to win their duels if the gameplan and tactics are working.
'What I did against Villa and Madrid, we struggled a lot with (City) bringing so many players into the centre of the pitch.
'Of course, everyone is disappointed. It was a very good start to the week, winning against Villa and Real Madrid, but if you've already faced two strong opponents, and then you have Man City coming at the Etihad, that is always, for every team, difficult, including us.'
