Jurgen Klopp may have been fined for his on-pitch celebrations in the aftermath of Liverpool's dramatic Merseyside derby triumph on Sunday, but Everton boss Marco Silva defended his opposite number.
The Reds sealed a valuable 1-0 triumph at Anfield after Jordan Pickford's howler allowed substitute Divock Origi to head in a stoppage-time winner that kept his side firmly in the Premier League title hunt.
It prompted Klopp to run onto the field and rejoice with goalkeeper Alisson, who had been kept busy by a determined and somewhat unfortunate Toffees outfit.
The German admitted a misconduct charge and was subsequently fined £8,000 by the Football Association, but Silva – speaking before that sanction was confirmed – saw no wrong in what Klopp had done.
FT | We had the chances, but conceded at the death. Very hard to take. 1 - 0 December 2, 2018
"In that moment, the manager cannot think about fines or not. It is a moment to celebrate," said Silva.
"I know in the last two days everyone is talking about the situation, but to me it doesn't really matter.
"If you try to stop all these teams and players celebrating with the fans, some of them taking their shirts off, it is part of the game and something you cannot stop. It is something important, even if sometimes you get fined.
"I didn't see what Jurgen did, like I told you at the end of the match. It's a happiness moment for him. For me not, of course.
"Now I have seen it. For me, the emotion of the game is a normal situation. To celebrate in that way is emotion – it's not something he has to explain for sure.
"I don't know if we score in that moment what my reaction would be. It's something I cannot tell you.
"It's a special game, a derby. For sure you don't expect a goal in that moment after the shot from Van Dijk."
