VAR Errors Cost Liverpool in Tottenham Match
Liverpool’s Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur was marred by poor officiating from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team. The Reds ultimately lost the match 2-1, but it wasn’t due to a poor performance. Instead, it was down to a series of errors from the VAR and his team.
Curtis Jones Sent Off
The first major error came when Curtis Jones was sent off after referee Simon Hooper was shown a still image of the tackle by the VAR team. Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk commented on the incident after the match, telling BBC Sport: “I’m losing faith is difficult to say. The VAR should be absolutely clear and obvious with everything they’re deciding on. I’ve seen the still back, I think on live TV there were no lines being shown. It’s all a bit strange, I don’t know who was in the VAR room and making that decision. It’s not a good thing, it doesn’t look well either. It is what it is, we lost.”
Luis Diaz Goal Disallowed
The second major error came when Luis Diaz’s first-half goal was ruled out for offside, despite being on. After the match, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) released a statement about what happened:
PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. The goal by Luiz Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene. PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.
The statement was of no consolation for Jurgen Klopp, though. The manager was disillusioned with the decisions, but kept calm. He said: “We won’t get points for it, it won’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions but we thought when VAR came in it might make things easier. It changed the momentum of the game.”
Looking Ahead
Liverpool will be hoping to bounce back on Thursday, when they face Union SG in the Europa League. The Reds will be looking to put this match behind them and focus on getting back to winning ways in Europe.
The errors from the VAR team in this match were inexcusable and have left Liverpool supporters feeling frustrated and exasperated. It is clear that there needs to be a full review into what happened and steps taken to ensure that similar errors do not occur in future matches.