Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was involved in a touchline bust-up with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Saturday evening - and an ex-Premier League referee has praised Michael Oliver’s handling of the situation.
Oliver, widely regarded as the best referee the Premier League has to offer, showed both Klopp and Arteta yellow cards as the two had some strong words for each other following a challenge by Sadio Mane.
The Reds boss wasn’t impressed by the Arsenal manager's reaction to Mane’s challenge and believed his forward was being unfairly targeted by the opposition bench,
The clash between the two bosses sparked Liverpool into life in the match and they eventually ran out 4-0 winners at Anfield.
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And ex top-flight referee Keith Hackett told Football Insider : “I thought it was handled really, really well. You don’t want that to happen, you know there’s passion and the odd word can be misconstrued and we don’t know what was said. It sparked a very physical clash.
“Oliver is a world-class referee, there are no doubts. His self-control was brilliant. Sometimes you can pile in. He didn’t jump in with red cards, he went through the right process, which was a public warning.”
Klopp said after the game that he was sick of situations in which managers tried to get players into trouble - much like the Arsenal bench tried doing with Mane.
