"I don’t quite know."
The answer that Joe Allen gave in reference to what happened in the second half of their Premier League fixture against Southampton which saw Liverpool throw away a two goal lead to lose 3-2 pretty much summed it up.
It had all been going swimmingly for Liverpool, who dominated the first period and were good value for their 2-0 lead at half time, after goals from Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho.
However, the introduction of Sadio Mane in the second half shifted the momentum and inspired a sensational comeback from Southampton. Two from Mane alongside a Graziano Pelle goal turned the game on its head and ended Liverpool’s three game winning streak in the league.
Midfielder admits Reds are "hugely" disappointed with defeat
When asked to explain what happened, the Liverpool No.24 struggled to put in to words what went wrong but his disappointment was obvious.
“I don’t know what to say really, but we are all very disappointed," he said to Liverpoolfc.com, calling it "hugely disappointing" to "throw it away" at St Mary's.
Allen thought he had put Liverpool 3-0 up after placing the ball beyond Fraser Forster into the Southampton net from a corner. Allen whirled away in celebration only to find that the goal was ruled out by the linesman for perceived interference from Mamadou Sakho.
The Frenchman was adjudged to have been in front of Forster, blocking the English goalkeeper's view. Allen conceded it was a big moment in the game as it would have given his side an even more commanding lead of 3-0 and the outcome of the game may have been very different.
"You don’t see those given very often," said the midfielder, who said that "everyone knows" that the disallowed goal "was a key moment in the game."
"I don't think we would be sat here with no points had that gone in, but that’s football," he added, rueing that his side "unfortunately" were "on the wrong side of that decision."
Lessons iwll be learned, says Allen
Allen pointed to the "large spells" within the Southampton game where the Reds were in control and looked like building on the three consecutive league victories they had secured before the trip tothe south coast.
He was, however, keen to point out that the team need to put this game behind them and get back to winning ways in Liverpool’s next game which is at home against Tottenham Hotspur on the 2nd April with the aim being to finish the season in positive fashion with as many wins as possible.
The Welshman continued: "Our focus has been on the run, gaining that momentum but to come away with nothing... we can’t look beyond that at the moment."
But he insisted that Jürgen Klopp's squad will "make sure lessons are learned" and said that for the rest of the season will "have to get that ball rolling and get some wins again."