Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Leeds United VAR call and Whites playing style after Elland Road classic — YEP 6/12/25
By Graham Smyth
Arne Slot saw his Liverpool side pegged back twice in an
amazing 3-3 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Arne Slot says Liverpool can take positives away from Elland
Road despite twice giving up a lead to draw 3-3 with Leeds United.
The under-fire Reds boss watched his men take a 2-0 lead
through a pair of Hugo Ekitiké goals inside the first five minutes of the
second half.
But Leeds roared back, inspired by a triple swap made by
Daniel Farke that brought Brenden Aaronson, Willy Gnonto and Ao Tanaka into the
game.
Gnonto won a penalty, scored by Dominic Calvert-Lewin,
Aaronson fed Anton Stach for the equaliser and after Dominik Szoboszlai made it
3-2, Tanaka grabbed a 96th-minute leveller.
Slot expressed disbelief at the result, the manner in which
his team conceded and the 'way the whole game went' for Liverpool.
"We felt there were so many positives to take from this
game," he said. "It's happened to us many times, except for the
result.
“It would have been nice to get that result combined with
the performance but not for the first time this season we've conceded goals,
dropped points from the same pattern.
“Set-piece, a VAR intervention that leads to a penalty, the
first chance they had was 2-2. The first chance from football. We had a
fantastic attack for 3-2. We have to do many things right to score a goal but
unfortunately we concede [a chance] and when we do it's a goal."
Slot refused to sugar coat Ibrahima Konaté's recent form but
did intimate that he wasn't hugely in favour of VAR's intervention for the
challenge on Gnonto.
"Unfortunately for him, he does a lot of things well
but he has been a bit too much on the crime scene," said Slot. "It's
something I've heard people say before in England.
“He's been involved in goals we've conceded. If you're a
centre-back that happens in football. It was a tackle that came from effort, he
tried to do everything to block the cross. The ball went out, the player went
down and there was contact. A lot of people will say it's correct VAR
intervened."
The Reds boss also took issue with the nine minutes of time
that were added on, in which Leeds scored from a corner to level the game a
second time. But he praised his players' fight and highlighted how difficult
others have found it against Leeds' direct style over the past week.
"I was really happy with the nine minutes added
time...no of course not," he said.
"It's not the right thing to talk about if you were 2-0
up, 3-2 up. It's not about me, what the players feel, what the fans feel,
everyone who loves this football club. We all feel the same at this moment.
These players are fighting really hard. We hardly conceded a chance and
conceded three goals.
"I can take a lot of positives from this game.
Controlled performance, dominant against a very difficult team to play against,
because Chelsea experienced it, Man City experienced it in the second half.
