Jurgen Klopp spoke of his pride at Liverpool’s fight as the Reds booked a place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win at Arsenal.
Liverpool rode their luck in the opening half as Arsenal missed a host of clear-cut chances, with the Gunners dominating the early exchanges at the Emirates.
Arsenal were punished for that wastefulness as Liverpool grew into the game, however, with the visitors earning a place in the next round late on.
Jakub Kiwior’s own goal handed Liverpool the lead after the Polish defender headed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick into his own goal, before Luis Diaz made sure of the result with a thumping finish in stoppage time.
Klopp was delighted with the performance of his side, as Liverpool progressed despite the absences of Virgil van Dijk, Wataru Endo and Mohamed Salah.
“I’m super proud. It’s a super difficult draw. Maybe the most difficult we could have got,” Klopp told the BBC at full-time.
“With all the things we had to consider coming here, Arsenal lined up slightly different, that was smart. We changed a bit at half-time. We were really in the game in the second half. We scored the goals and brought the kids on. We fought for 95 minutes. We have a winter break now.”
Ibrahima Konate was named man of the match, as the Frenchman impressed at centre-back in the absence of Van Dijk. On Konate’s display, Klopp said: “The new partner did really well as well. Joe Gomez, come on. It was really tough. So many good things happened today. It’s really important that you get these kind of different results. You’re still in the game and you can step up in the second half.”
