Arne Slot said he was upset but not as upset as Darwin Nunez after the Liverpool forward missed an open goal against Aston Villa.
Mohamed Salah continued his sensational form with Liverpool’s opener on 29 minutes however the visitors still found themselves 2-1 behind on the break as Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins each scored for Villa.
Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised on the hour mark before Nunez had an excellent likelihood to win it when Dominik Szoboszlai selflessly squared the ball and left Emiliano Martinez stranded.
Nunez beat Tyrone Mings in a foot race to make first contact but blazed his effort over the bar from close range, much to the frustration of the away fans inside Villa Park.
Asked in regards to the likelihood, Slot said during his post-match press conference: ‘What I saw was an unbelievable pass from Conor Bradley and what an influence run from Dominik Szoboszlai, who made for my part the right selection to square it.
‘From a 1v1 with the goalkeeper he made it an open goal likelihood. It was not Darwin’s best leg – he’s right-footed after all – however it was still a giant likelihood.
‘Very unlucky and I used to be hoping he would get one other likelihood because a player like him probably wouldn’t miss two probabilities in a row and he was very close but [Emiliano] Martinez made an ideal sliding tackle to win the ball.
‘I feel we were all upset however it’s normal that the player is a little more upset than the remaining.’
Victory for Liverpool would have sent them ten points clear of second-placed Arsenal but Slot’s side need to make do with an eight-point advantage ahead of a vital weekend within the title race.
On Sunday, Liverpool visit struggling Premier League champions Manchester City, who were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday night, losing 6-3 on aggregate to holders Real Madrid.
Assessing his side’s performance in Birmingham, Slot added: ‘It was an ideal game. Moving into 2-1 down at half-time didn’t feel just like the game went for us like that but I used to be upset.
‘We got here out within the second half and scored 2-2 and had some good probabilities to make it 3-2 after which we could even have lost it. It was an ideal game but I’m not completely satisfied with the result.
‘I felt we defended well but I can’t give you lots of Villa probabilities. It is advisable have a neutral set-piece balance or positive and we conceded one and didn’t rating one. We scored two good goals and created enough probabilities to get the winner.
‘We played Wolves away and beat them 2-1 and in the ultimate minutes, it was tough for us as well. These players are used to this and are used to playing for trophies.
‘Today we played thoroughly but that also has to do with the type of play of the opposite team.
‘Every team has to play every team twice and this week is Villa away and City away but again we didn’t lose.
‘We desired more and that’s the only thing we will blame ourselves for just a few times now we didn’t get what we deserved. We must not make a habit of that.’
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