For a change, Liverpool did not need a late winner to seal their 2-1 victory over Everton, and rival fans strangely criticised the once-typical three minutes of stoppage time.
Arne Slot believes referee Darren England – who was criticised by David Moyes and Jack Grealish for his performance – was right in his decision.
The lack of an extended period of stoppage time was held up by rival supporters as a conspiracy of sorts from the PGMOL to aid the champions in their title defence.
Moyes claimed he found the time added on “amazing,” while Grealish bizarrely even argued that he had “never seen that in the Premier League.”
However speaking to Liverpool’s official website ahead of the visit of Southampton in the Carabao Cup, Slot rejected those suggestions of bias.
“A lot has been said about the added time against Everton but I would have loved to play on three or four seconds more because we were in a five-v-two situation at that moment,” the head coach rightly pointed out.
“Now that tells you, I think, all about the mentality we have, always wanting to score a goal.
“The three minutes were completely correct, by the way, because there were only three moments where a substitution was made.
“There was no time-wasting because that’s not what we do – unfortunately, I have to say, sometimes – and there was no treatment of injuries, one goal scored.
“Then you come to three [minutes]. Where in many other games when we need a goal, there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of time-wasting going on, I can tell you.”
Liverpool scored both of their goals in the first half of the Merseyside derby, having previously netted three of their last four winners in additional time.
But as Slot explained there were fewer instances of time-wasting as his side were not chasing a result: instead, they were pushing for a goal to put the game to bed while Everton themselves looked to score an equaliser.
It is after all still the standard that up to three minutes be added on at the end of a routine Premier League fixture.
Their previous late wins may have warped perceptions but it should be noted that in the 3-2 victory over Newcastle, decided by Rio Ngumoha‘s goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time, the ball was only in play for 40.8 percent of the game.
Per Opta, that is the lowest percentage in a Premier League match since Stoke’s 3-0 win over Blackburn in February 2010 (40%).