Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca both felt they didn’t get the rub of the green from the officials during Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea have enjoyed impressive starts to the season and it set up a fascinating tie at Anfield.
The visitors appeared to settle into a rhythm earlier than the hosts, but it was Liverpool who took the lead after Curtis Jones was fouled inside the box.
Mohamed Salah stepped up and gave Liverpool a 1-0 advantage at the break, but Chelsea were back level after Nicolas Jackson broke the offside trap.
Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca felt hard done by in the match
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Jones, who put in a man-of-the-match display in midfield for Liverpool, bagged the winner later in the second half with an instinctive finish ahead of Robert Sanchez.
There was plenty of action on the touchline as well as the pitch throughout the match with the fourth official having words with both benches.
Slot was booked by referee John Brooks for dissent in the first half and the Liverpool boss admitted he ‘deserved’ the yellow card.
However, he picked out a number of decision that he felt went against Liverpool in the match.
“The most important thing if you want to have a chance to win a game like this is that you work so hard, and we did,” Slot told Sky Sports.
“In the meantime we created some very good chances and were – and I know I may be biased – a bit unlucky with some decisions.
“It could have been a crucial decision to overturn the refereeing decision on the pitch [the second penalty]. In my opinion, you look at it on the screen and it is a penalty.
“Then there was the decision of the red card [Tosin on Diogo Jota], which we saw yesterday [William Saliba v Bournemouth] was red in a similar situation.
“They are big decisions because penalties and red cards decide a game a lot. But in the end a good win against a very strong Chelsea.”
Liverpool moved back top of the table
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But Maresca equally felt Chelsea were hard done by throughout the match with a few decisions going against his side.
“There are some decisions that have been clear for everyone, the referee is there to take a decision and they decide in a different way,” he said.
“It is a setback because we lost but the performance was probably one of the best of the season.”
Despite the loss, Maresca was pleased with the overall performance from his side.
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“We don’t like to drop points and lose a game, but if you have to choose a way, this is the way,” he added.
“We came here and tried to control the game, dominate. For most of the game we played in their half and I thought the performance was fantastic.
“I came here many times in the past and I know how difficult it is but the way we controlled and managed the game was fantastic.
“This is the right direction.”