
Police officers had to step in after Jurgen Klopp reacted angrily to a challenge from Sunderland’s Jeremain Lens which he believed deserved a red card.

The winger upended Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho and was booked during the closing stages of his side’s 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night.

Klopp and his backroom staff were involved in a heated exchange with Sam Allardyce and his bench, and policemen were forced to intervene.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (right) gestures as a heated row between staff members of both teams takes place on Wednesday

Klopp (right) holds out his hands as police officers come into the dugout with tempers fraying on the touchline during the match

Klopp was unhappy after Sunderland's Jeremain Lens (right) made this challenge on defender Mamadou Sakho late in the second half

The former Dynamo Kyiv player dived in with a reckless challenge which caught the France international high on his right leg

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE SUNDERLAND (4-4-1): Mannone 7; Jones 6, Coates 6 (Yedlin 72, 6), Brown 6, Van Aanholt 6.5; M’Vila 6.5; Johnson 5 (Lens 65, 6), Cattermole 6.5, Rodwell 5 (Watmore 30, 7), Borini 5.5; Defoe 6 Subs not used: Pantilimon, Graham, Toivonen, Beadling Booked: Lens Manager: Sam Allardyce 6 LIVERPOOL (4-3-2-1): Mignolet 6; Clyne 7, Lovren 6, Sakho 6, Moreno 6; Lallana 6.5, Henderson 6.5 (Lucas 60, 6.5), Can 6; Firmino 6.5 (Toure 93), Coutinho 7.5 (Ibe 83); Benteke 6.5 Subs not used: Bogdan, Smith, Teixeira, Randall Goal: Benteke 46 Booked: Benteke, Can, Moreno Manager: Jurgen Klopp 6 Man of the Match: Philippe Coutinho Referee: Kevin Friend Attendance: 45,765 This was the move which led to Christian Benteke's opening goal for Liverpool. Click here for more from Match Zone Advertisement

Allardyce later called the Liverpool boss a ‘soft German’ for claiming Lens should have been dismissed.

But Klopp said: ‘Of course I was angry. I don’t want to say, “Come on, give him a red card”. I have no problem with the player. But when you go in like that, anything can happen.

‘For me, that’s a red card, finished. My staff were emotional and the staff of Sunderland were emotional.’

Klopp tried to diffuse the fuss around the incident when he said: ‘If you look on your ticket, that is included, if nothing happens on the pitch, watch what happens on the bench.’

However, it is the third time in a matter of weeks that Klopp has become involved in a touchline altercation following clashes with Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew.

And Allardyce is the latest British manager unimpressed with the behaviour of the former Borussia Dortmund boss.

Sunderland midfielder Lens makes contact as the force of the tackle pushes Liverpool defender Sakho up into the air

Sakho falls to the pitch and looks to be in pain as Lens follows through with the tackle on the Liverpool defender

Sakho rolls around the pitch in agony after the tackle by Sunderland's Lens late in the match at the Stadium of Light

‘He’s a soft German if he thinks that’s a red,’ he said. ‘It’s a yellow, it’s a foul. There was then some foul and abusive language towards my staff that I did not like. But we shook hands afterwards and that’s what you’ve got to do.’

Klopp’s side climbed to seventh thanks to Christian Benteke’s winner just 22 seconds after half-time. But the Reds boss believes his Belgian striker – who missed a chance to seal maximum points late on – should still be contributing more.

‘A striker who made a decisive moment is always a positive thing, but I’m sure he can play better,’ he said. ‘But in this moment we need his goals more than anything else.’

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce branded Klopp 'a soft German' after the latter's post-match complaints at the Stadium of Light

Allardyce watched his side lose for the fifth consecutive game as they lie a lowly 19th in the Premier League, ahead of only Aston Villa

But Klopp is a happier man after the full-time whistle as his side claim victory on the road with a 1-0 victory against Sunderland

Allardyce, meanwhile, is left to count the cost of another bruising defeat – a fifth on the spin – in which he lost Jack Rodwell to a hamstring problem and Sebastian Coates to a late collision.

It is the ninth time this year that £10million midfielder Rodwell has suffered an injury and he is set for another spell on the sidelines.

Allardyce said: ‘It’s another chapter in the saga of, "Can we keep Jack fit?". Unfortunately we thought we were getting there, he’s been available for a few weeks, playing a couple of games and now it’s struck again.

‘It's back to, “What can we do differently that we haven’t already done to prevent those injuries?”.’

The Sunderland boss, whose side remain seven points from safety, will now look to the January transfer window for reinforcements and is set to complete the signing of Lorient centre-back Lamine Kone after a £5m fee was agreed for the 26-year-old.

Sunderland's Jack Rodwell looks dejected as he walks off the pitch in pain after suffering yet another injury

Christian Benteke slots beyond Vito Mannone as the Reds won 1-0 on Wednesday night, heaping more misery on Allardyce