Premier League English

Solskjaer says Klopp trying to influence refs with penalty taunts

Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacted on Tuesday to Jurgen Klopp’s jibes about Manchester United’s penalty record with the Old Trafford boss claiming that Premier League managers are trying to exert their influence on referees instead.

Klopp had openly highlighted the issue of the large number of penalties awarded to the Red Devils since the Norwegian took charge in a tirade following the defending champions not getting a spotkick in Monday’s defeat at Southampton.

The Reds boss further claimed United have had more spotkicks in two years under Solskjaer than Liverpool have had in his entire five-and-a-half year reign.

United have had six league penalties awarded to them this season compared to the five won by Klopp’s men, and have been given 42 in all competitions since Solskjaer took over in December 2018 compared to Liverpool’s 19 in the same period. In total, Liverpool had been given 46 penalties since Klopp arrived on Merseyside in 2015.

Klopp’s comments understandably hit a raw nerve with Solskjaer, whose Red Devils are now in second place and are scheduled to square off against leaders Liverpool in a crucial clash in the Premier League title race on Jan 17.

When Klopp’s remarks were put to Solskjaer ahead of United’s League Cup semifinal against Manchester City on Wednesday, he said:

“And that’s a fact, probably …

“That’s probably going to be my answer, that’s a fact that we’ve got more than them.

“I don’t know how many penalties they’ve had. I don’t count how many penalties they have.

“So, if they want to spend time on worrying about when we get fouled in the box then I don’t spend time on that.”

Solskjaer’s frequent use of the word ‘fact’ is a possible allusion to former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez’s infamous rant in 2009 at Alex Ferguson who was the United manager then.

But Solskjaer’s frustration was not only with the Liverpool boss but also with Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard as the comments of both the Premier League bosses also referenced United’s good fortune with penalties.

Solskjaer quickly brought up United’s FA Cup semifinal defeat against Chelsea last season, suggesting Lampard had influenced decisions in that game when Kurt Zouma’s challenge on Anthony Martial did not result in a spotkick to the Red Devils.

“I can’t talk on behalf of other managers, why they say things like this,” Solskjaer said.

“Obviously I felt it worked last year in the semi in the FA Cup because Frank spoke about it and we had a nailed-on penalty that we should have had that we didn’t get, so maybe it’s a way of influencing referees. I don’t know.

“But I don’t worry about that. You know when they foul our players I think it is a penalty, it’s just when it’s inside the box.”