Boss: I gave my first standing ovation to Kolo Toure
An excellent piece of recovery defending by Kolo Toure against Manchester City's Sergio Aguero on Wednesday night prompted what Jürgen Klopp believed to be his first ever standing ovation in a game.
The centre-back helped Liverpool keep a clean sheet at one end of the pitch while they registered three goals in scintillating fashion at the other to secure a deserved victory at Anfield.
But it was one incident involving Toure in particular which drew special praise from Klopp, who explained all to Liverpoolfc.com as he assessed his team’s memorable performance after the 3-0 result.
He said: “The challenge of the day was Kolo Toure against Aguero. I think it was the first time I’ve made a standing ovation in a game for a player. That was really great.
“Everybody who came in… you saw Christian Benteke is in another moment now, he is training really well and you could see. Divock Origi, 70 minutes working hard, first half really good and in the second half you saw it was a long time out. Joe Allen came in and was very important for us.
“Adam Lallana, after his injury, is a key player for us – like a few of them – because he loves the style we play, so it’s easier for him to do it and he can carry all the others with him.
“Emre and Hendo gave a great performance, and both full-backs. Flanno, after this long time, was very smart – really saving energy, really concentrating in defence. Clyney did well on the wrong side.
“And Simon Mignolet with not too many but a few brilliant saves was very important for us. Everything was like it should be.”