Liverpool boss Arne Slot accepts his side’s performance in the last-gasp win at Nottingham Forest was “the worst we’ve played.”
Slot’s men were woefully out of sorts at the City Ground, with former captain Jamie Carragher describing their first-half display as a “horror show.”
Yet they left with the three points after Alexis Mac Allister pounced deep into stoppage time, minutes after he had a goal ruled out by VAR.
Slot knows his side did not deserve the three points as they were overrun by Forest, but felt they were due some luck.
“The first half was really poor, the worst we’ve played until now, I think,” the Dutchman said. “But the second half was much better, we controlled the game much more.
“The performance was, especially in the first half, not as good as we’ve had so many times this season.
“But we’ve been on the wrong side of the score after a good performance far too many times and today, I think we got more than we deserved.
“A draw would have been a fairer result than for us to win it.”
It was a dramatic end as Mac Allister struck in the sixth minute of time added on after seeing his earlier effort ruled out in the 89th minute.
Stefan Ortega saved Hugo Ekitike’s header and as Ola Aina tried to clear the rebound, it crashed off Mac Allister and into the net. However, VAR ruled that it hit his elbow and the goal was chalked off.
“Since VAR is there, I always struggle to celebrate too much if I think there might be something going on,” Slot said. “You never know, if a ball is hit to a body, where it ends up. And apparently it ended up on his arm.
“So it was disallowed. So then my emotions were, ‘OK, still not everything that could have gone against us this season has happened yet. Still one more to go.’
“But maybe fortune has changed as two or three minutes later, we thought we scored the winner again. They took a long time to check it, but this time, the referee pointed at a kick-off, which meant we won the game.”
Liverpool were forced to change their line-up before kick-off after Florian Wirtz struggled with back pain during the warm-up.
Slot added: “We don’t think it’s very serious, but he felt his back too much during the warm-up to start, he he wasn’t able to to be 100% or even close to 100%.
“After being in this league for six, seven or eight months, he now understands that no matter how rich you are on the ball, that you need to be 100% at his level, so we decided not to play him.
“We hope and expect that he will be able to be with us again next week, but you never know how things work out.”
– VAR review: Analyzing VAR drama for Liverpool’s Mac Allister
– Report: Late Mac Allister goal gives Liverpool win over Forest
The result left new Forest boss Vitor Pereira “angry with football.”
The Portuguese, who was taking charge of his first Premier League match since replacing Sean Dyche at the City Ground, took the game to Liverpool, swamping them with pressure and intensity.
“I’m frustrated, frustrated inside, angry with football,” Pereira, who watched his new side beat Fenerbahce 3-0 on Thursday, said.
“But it’s time to keep the mentality, to come back stronger and with confidence to face the future.
“The score, for me, was very, very unfair, but this is football. We need to keep the good things for the next game to rest and to prepare everyone.”
