Dejan Lovren: I Managed To Say Sorry For The Mistake

There’s something about Crystal Palace. Liverpool’s perpetual bogey team, they always seem to undo us in just the right way, never moreso than when the title is within sight. While the trip to Selhurst Park yesterday resulted in a win, it did not come without it’s mistakes - the first being Dejan Lovren’s attempted clearance that passed to James McArthur, allowing him to score just two minutes after Emre Can had opened the score sheet. In past matches that sort of mistake would have easily taken the wind from anyone’s sails, but Lovren had the chance to make up for the error shortly after with a header from a Philippe Coutinho corner.

“If you want to be in the top four, you need to have the winning mentality – even when you make mistakes. Keep your head up and forget about them. Everyone did that well. We showed big character,” the defender told the club website after the match.

“It was a tough game. The first half was ups and downs, with a couple of mistakes and my mistake. But, to be honest, I was sure we would come back.

“And thank God I scored also – I managed to say sorry for the mistake. It was a good performance. The most important thing is the three points.”

Lovren wasn’t the only defender to score, with Joel Matip scoring in a similar fashion to make the score 2-3 before halftime (also the first time both central defenders have scored in the same match in the league in over forty years), with Roberto Firmino delivering the final blow.

“Everyone up front was on fire, especially Philippe and Roberto [Firmino]. [Sadio] Mane had a couple of chances he could have scored in the first half. We just need to keep working hard and go step by step.”