Liverpool have eight reasons to fume after ‘worst officiated match in Premier League history’
Luis Diaz’s wrongly-disallowed goal wasn’t the only controversial officiating decision in Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Liverpool had every right to feel insulted after suffering one of the most costly refereeing mistakes in Premier League history in their 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the dying seconds.
In the first half, Luis Diazin’s goal was mistakenly disallowed for offside, and the PGMOL later acknowledged that the decision not to award the goal was made with “significant human error” because VAR did not step in. After the final horn, Chief Howard Webb would contact the club to apologize.
In what has been described as a brief moment of distraction, VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook would later learn that they were unaware that the goal had been disallowed for offside.
Once play had resumed, the rules of the game prevented them from intervening.
Such a mistake is the most embarrassing of all faults, and it makes sense that it has become the main topic of conversation in the wake of the Reds’ dramatic loss.
But even though Liverpool was illogically denied a goal that was entirely legitimate, club sources are still upset about other decisions.
Jurgen Klopp’s side finished the match in North London with nine men after Curtis Joneswas shown a straight red card in the first half, while Diogo Jota picked up two bookings in quick-succession after the interval.
The midfielder will now serve a three-match ban, while the forward will miss the Reds’ trip to Brighton next weekend courtesy of a one-game suspension.
But was it the right decision to dismiss either player?
Jones was initially booked by referee Simon Hooper for a foul on Yves Bissouma, only for the official to upgrade the card to a red after being told to check the tackle again on the VAR monitor.
Admittedly, the tackle looked nasty in slow-motion and as a still image as Hooper was shown footage of Jones’ studs going over the ball and down on Bissouma’s ankle.
But in real-time, it was a 50/50 challenge with the Liverpool midfielder winning the ball, and momentum only taking him over the top into the Spurs man because of such contact with the ball and his own corresponding tackle.
While it is quite right to send a player off for high and wild tackles where they aren’t in control and don’t connect with the ball, this challenge from Jones was not that.
Still, a decision that remains up for debate and open to individual interpretation, it is one both club and player will be left forced to stomach.
Meanwhile, Jota’s first yellow card was issued for an apparent trip to Destiny Udogie.
Yet the replay showed that the full-back had actually already tripped over his own feet and was falling to the floor, before minimal contact with the Portuguese’s knee.
Shoved and kicked by the same player less than two minutes later, Jota had no excuses for his second yellow card as he launched into a lunging tackle on Udogie in an attempt to win the ball back.
But had he not been booked for the first non-foul, he would not have been sent off for such a challenge.
Besides, regardless of the forward’s fate, Udogie was caught waving an imaginary card while on the ground following such challenges, calling for Hooper to take action.
Yet according to sterner rules implemented this season, such an action is supposed to warrant a booking of its own.
Alexis Mac Allister found this out the hard way on the opening day of the season away at Chelsea as he was booked for brandishing an imaginary card to officials.
With Richarlison also doing similar right in the face of Hooper on Saturday evening, and avoiding punishment too, the lack of consistency is evident.
The fact that Udogie had already been booked in the first half too, so by the letter of the law should have also been dismissed for a second bookable offence, makes such inconsistency even more of a sickener.
It was not the only inconsistent decision either. In hindsight, Liverpool could perhaps feel that they should have had a penalty for a challenge by Micky van de Ven on Joe Gomez in the first half.
The Reds defender got to the ball first before the Dutchman connected with him from behind in the box, with such an altercation reminiscent of Virgil van Dijk’s own tackle on Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, that earned him a straight red card at the end of August.
Elsewhere, after setting up Joel Matip’s 96th minute match-winning own goal, Pedro Porro was booked after removing his shirt to celebrate. Yet he was one of a number of Tottenham players to celebrate in with the crowd.
Harvey Elliott and Jones were booked themselves for similar behaviour in Liverpool’s 3-1 win away at Wolves just two weeks ago.
And should the Tottenham full-back not have already been booked? Andy Robertson was cautioned in the 87th minute for looking to win the ball in the air up against the Spaniard.
Yet the Scotland captain only had his eyes on the ball, while Porro was staring purely at the Liverpool man with no intention of winning the ball himself.
There are mistakes in every match up and down the country every weekend, from the Premier League right down to the deepest depths of amateur football.
But at least at the highest level there is now the technology to rectify such errors. In principle, at least.
Some will cry conspiracy when a match like the Reds’ trip to Spurs goes against you in such a manner.
But while you would like to believe such incidents are more ineptitude than corruption, it is still a bitter pill to swallow when a plethora of questionable decisions are analysed from just one single match.
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