Luis Diaz’s wrongly disallowed goal wasn’t the only controversial decision in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp reacts during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Londo
Liverpool have every right to feel aggrieved after one of the worst refereeing errors in Premier League history cost them dearly in a last-minute 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Luis Diazin rightly had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, with the PGMOL admitting the decision not to award the goal was a “significant human error” after VAR failed to intervene.
Boss Howard Webb is said to have got in touch after the final whistle to apologize to the club.
It would later emerge that VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook were unaware of the on-pitch decision to disallow the goal for offside, in what was described as a temporary lapse of concentration, and that they subsequently failed to do so . intervene during the game. he had started again because of the rules of the game.
A mistake like this is the most embarrassing of all and was, understandably, the main topic of discussion following the Reds’ last-minute defeat.
But even though Liverpool were incomprehensibly denied a perfectly valid goal, it’s not the only decision that saddens club sources.
Jurgen Klopp’s side finished the game in north London with nine players after Curtis Jones was shown a red card in the first half, while Diogo Jota received two yellow cards in quick succession after the break.
The midfielder will now serve a three-match ban, while the striker will miss the Reds’ trip to Brighton next weekend due to a one-match suspension.
But was it the right decision to release either player? Jones was initially booked by referee Simon Hooper for a foul on Yves Bissouma, but the official raised the card to red after being asked to recheck the tackle on the VAR monitor.
Sure, the tackle looked bad in slow motion and as a freeze-frame, Hooper was shown footage of Jones’ studs sailing past the ball and landing on Bissouma’s ankle.
But in real time it was a 50/50 contest with the Liverpool midfielder winning the ball, and the momentum taking him over the top against the Spurs man due to such contact with the ball and his own tackling .
While it is entirely fair to send a player off for high, wild tackles where he has no control and does not make contact with the ball, this challenge from Jones was not.
However, it is a decision that is up for debate and open to individual interpretation. Both the club and the player will have to deal with this decision.
Meanwhile, Jota’s first yellow card was issued for an apparent trip on Destiny Udogie.
But the replay showed the full-back had already tripped and fallen to the ground before making minimal contact with the Portuguese’s knee.
Less than two minutes later he was pushed and kicked by the same player and Jota had no excuse for his second yellow card as he tackled Udogie to recover the ball.
But if he had not been warned for the first non-fault, he would not have been sent off for such a foul.
Additionally, regardless of the attacker’s fate, Udogie was caught waving an imaginary card on the ground after such challenges, prompting Hooper to take action.
But under the stricter rules in force this season, such an action should warrant its own yellow card.
Alexis Mac Allister found this out the hard way on the opening day of Chelsea’s season, when he was booked for waving an imaginary card in front of the referees.
With Richarlison doing the same in front of Hooper on Saturday night and also dodging the free kick, the lack of consistency is clear.
The fact that Udogie also received a yellow card in the first half, so by the letter of the law he should also have been sent off for a second booking, makes this inconsistency even sicker.
It wasn’t the only inconsistent decision, either.
In retrospect, Liverpool might have thought they should have been awarded a penalty for Micky van de Ven’s challenge on Joe Gomez in the first half.
The Reds defender collected the ball first before the Dutchman hit him from behind in the penalty area.
The altercation is reminiscent of Virgil van Dijk’s own tackle on Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, which earned him a red card in late August.
Elsewhere, Pedro Porro was booked for assisting Joel Matip’s 96th-minute winner after taking off his shirt to celebrate.
Nonetheless, he was one of several Tottenham players to celebrate with the crowd. Harvey Elliott and Jones were banned for similar behavior just two weeks ago during Liverpool’s 3-1 away win against Wolves.
And shouldn’t the Tottenham full-back have already been booked?
Andy Robertson was booked in the 87th minute for attempting to win the ball in the air against the Spaniard.
Yet the Scottish captain only had his eyes on the ball, while Porro stared exclusively at the Liverpool man, with no intention of winning the ball himself.
Mistakes are made every weekend in every game across the country, from the Premier League to deep amateur football.
But at least at the highest levels, the technology now exists to correct such errors. At least in principle.
While the mistake of disallowing Diaz’s goal will be the biggest complaint about Liverpool’s defeat, it is clearly not the only decision that can be questioned.
The inconsistency is clear, and while the disallowed goal will overshadow all other incidents, its combination with the match itself should lead to further questions.
Sure, some of them are up to personal interpretation, but still, they all add up. Webb’s apology, especially just for that mistake, means nothing.
Regardless of the worst refereeing error, the Reds have every right to question whether their defeat to Spurs goes further and is actually the worst game in Premier League history. Something has to change.
