Reds keep title hopes alive and open up a two-point lead over Manchester City with dramatic 3-2 victory at St. James' Park
Sunday 5 May 2019 09:39, UK
Jurgen Klopp saluted Divock Origi's "fairy-tale" late winner which saw Liverpool "qualify for the league final" with a dramatic 3-2 victory at Newcastle.
Liverpool's title challenge looked set to unravel at St. James' Park as Newcastle came from a goal down twice to leave the Reds with just over half an hour to save their season.
But, for the second time this season, substitute Origi popped up with a priceless late goal, heading in from Xherdan Shaqiri's free-kick, to open up a two-point lead over Manchester City that piles the pressure on the champions ahead of their Monday Night Football clash with Leicester - live on Sky Sports.
"So crucial. It's just brilliant, it's a like fairytale," Klopp described Origi's winner in his post-match press conference.
"You can say whatever you want about me - I don't play Divock enough or Shaqiri enough - but then I make this decision and it's great. I love it. It was really a big moment.
"It was a wonderful free-kick from Shaq and a sensational header from Divock won us the game now we've qualified for the league final, which is brilliant.
"I didn't feel like it was over. I accepted long ago that we do everything, absolutely everything. The boys throw whatever they have on the pitch. Whether we are champions or not it's destiny, we cannot do more.
"The boys tried everything to win the game, we tried to have influence. I really think it was deserved. I really loved how calm the boys were.
"They showed in each second that they really wanted to win it, we knew what we had to do and the boys did it in a very difficult game."
Virgil van Dijk got Liverpool off to the perfect start inside 15 minutes on Tyneside, wriggling free of his marker before heading the past Martin Dubravka.
And Klopp singled out members of his backroom staff for their role in the Dutchman's strike, adding: "Our goal was wonderful, Peter Krawietz and Greg and James our analysts, the work they do on set pieces is incredible. It's really nice to see Virgil get free in the box.
"We had so many fantastic moments of football, we should've finished it off before they scored the second goal but that's football, it's not important, what the boys did is unbelievable.
"It's brilliant, so deserved, it was a tough game against a physically stronger team than us. The way Newcastle played, it was just difficult to deal with in general. It's really difficult to defend all these situations and we cannot defend them, it kept them in the game.
"We had to fight, I couldn't be more proud. You play the whole season so intense, we are not the best team in the world and we have to work hard. There are no easy games and now at the end of the season we have three games in six days.
"That's really hard. I didn't see anyone being nervous, we just tried it, no silly fouls, just really clear, it's an important lesson for us that we can deal with that like this."
