Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp questioned the pressure being put on officials after the Professional Game Match Officials Limited vowed to investigate the decision to rule out a Luis Diaz goal in the Reds’ dramatic 2-1 loss at Tottenham.
Diaz looked to have put Liverpool ahead in the 34th minute when he raced on to Mohamed Salah’s through ball and rifled into the bottom corner of the net, but the offside flag was immediately raised.
A VAR check by Darren England in Stockley Park occurred, with screens inside the stadium informing supporters, but play was able to quickly resume with the effort remaining offside.
Referees’ body PGMOL has since acknowledged a “significant human error” occurred and that VAR “failed to intervene” to prevent the error.
Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error.
“Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No,” Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL statement.
“We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier.
“I don’t know why the people…are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is.”
After a breathless start at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Liverpool were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones was sent off following a VAR review.
Jones caught Yves Bissouma with a high, studs-up tackle on his shin that initially earned him a yellow card but referee Simon Hooper upgraded the decision to a red card after he used the pitchside monitor to review the incident.
Diaz found the net six minutes later, but after it was ruled out Tottenham went ahead when captain Son Heung-min tapped home from Richarlison’s centre in the 36th minute.
Cody Gakpo levelled for Liverpool on the verge of half-time but Klopp’s problems mounted when Diogo Jota was dismissed midway through the second half following two fouls on Destiny Udogie in quick succession.
It meant Liverpool had to play the final 21 minutes in north London with nine men and their stubborn resistance was finally broken when Porro’s dangerous cross was diverted past Alisson by Matip.
Klopp added: “I told the boys after the game I am super proud and especially with 10 men they were really good. They did everything that is necessary and on top of that we were courageous.
“I don’t think there is anything to say about the offside goal. I knew at half-time.
“In the first moment I thought it was clear offside but then it is right to think they have a better view and at half-time we knew with normal pictures. Easy to see, no offside.
“But I am pretty sure whoever did make that decision did not make it on purpose. It didn’t take extremely long to come to the conclusion, that is a bit strange, but someone else has to clarify that.”
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, was happy to accept the rub of the green with the Diaz ruled out effort but highlighted that VAR will never be “errorless” after he watched his team’s unbeaten record stretch to seven matches in the Premier League.
He said: “I think I’m on record as saying that I’ve never really been a fan of it since it came in. Not for any other reason than I think that it complicates areas of the game that I thought were pretty clear in the past.
“We used to understand that errors were part of the game, including officiating errors. You’d have to cop it and some people would cop it better than others but that was part of the game.
“The game is littered with historical refereeing decisions that weren’t right but we all accepted it that it was part of the game because we’re dealing with human beings.
“I think that people are under the misconception that VAR is going to be errorless.
“So much of our game isn’t factual. It’s down to interpretation and they’re still human beings. They’re going to make mistakes the same way managers make mistakes, the same way players make mistakes.
“When you put such a high bar on something it invariably is going to fail, so if people are thinking that VAR is going to be something that at some point that is perfect, that’s never going to happen.”
Man City refused to feel sorry for themselves after Luton opener – Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City refused to “feel sorry for ourselves” after going in a goal down at half-time against Luton before hitting back to claim a 2-1 Premier League triumph at Kenilworth Road.
The hosts looked on course to inflict a fifth-consecutive winless game on City when Elijah Adebayo rose at the back post to head in Andros Townsend’s cross on the stroke of the interval.
It was just reward for an opening period in which they had weathered the champions’ early pressure well, with Guardiola’s side resorting to shooting from distance after goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski had denied them with a string of fine saves, most impressively from Phil Foden’s low drive.
And Rob Edwards’ side held their lead beyond the hour mark as a stunning victory appeared within reach, until the champions turned the game on its head inside of three whirlwind minutes.
First, Bernardo Silva pounced on a loose ball to lash home an equaliser into the bottom corner before Jack Grealish stabbed between the legs of Kaminski to send Luton to their second narrow home defeat in five days.
And Guardiola said his players did not allow the prospect of losing for the second time in a week and ending the weekend seven points off the Premier League summit to distract them in the second half.
“The most important thing to change the dynamic is winning games,” he said. “That helps a lot.
“We didn’t get results sometimes when we deserved, but that’s what it is.
“Today was a good test for the fact that we played a really, really good first half against this type of team, this type of stadium. We did it perfect. We concede not much, created enough chances to score.”
City went down 1-0 away to Aston Villa on Wednesday having previously dropped points in draws with Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Victory at Luton ensured they stayed in touch with the sides above them in the table – the Reds, Villa and last season’s runners-up Arsenal – and cut the gap at the top to four points.
Guardiola admitted he had been concerned by the prospect of failing to win for a fifth game in a row when Adebayo headed Luton in front.
“I thought about that,” he said. “But I said to (the players) ‘what do we have do to, feel sorry for ourselves?’ We don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves. It’s football, it’s life, it’s happened.
“What are we going to do? Complain about being unlucky? Strikers, be more aggressive, score goals guys. Defend better the cross in the last minute and be positive.
“We have to remember ourselves. Big characters, big teams, like this team is. They are defined in these situations.
“I don’t like to see the players when we win 3-0, 4-0 in 10, 14, 15, 18 games in a row. That doesn’t define who we really are. Four games without winning – 1-0 (down) in a tough stadium.
“They don’t need to prove to me what they are capable of, because they are an extraordinary group of players and characters. But the competition demands to prove it again. It’s normal to say ‘City are not the same – it’s over’.
“Yeah, that’s nice, let them prove we want to still be there. Let’s do it. It’s so nice. We need that.”
Guardiola confirmed that top-scorer Erling Haaland, who missed the game with a stress fracture to his foot, would likely also miss the midweek trip to Belgrade to face Red Star and next weekend’s clash with Crystal Palace.
Winger Jeremy Doku was also missing against Luton.
The manager added: “Week by week will dictate how (Haaland) feels. Doku is muscular, it’s not a big issue like Kevin (De Bruyne) was.”
Luton boss Edwards reflected on disappointing result that nevertheless proved his team were moving in the right direction.
“If we continue to perform the way we have this week, we can achieve something really special this year,” he said. “I like the way the team is going. I love how hard they’re working for each other.
“I think we’re starting to change the narrative around Luton Town Football Club.”
Marco Silva hails ‘brilliant performance’ from Fulham in West Ham romp
Fulham boss Marco Silva hailed his side’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham as even better than the display that had seen them beat Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline four days earlier.
The floodgates have certainly opened for the Whites in recent weeks, with David Moyes’ men the latest side to be put to the sword as five different scorers struck in a fine home win.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring to take his personal tally to four in five games having previously not scored a Premier League goal since March 2022, when he was a Wolves player.
Willian and Tosin Adarabioyo goals then had the hosts coasting at the break before a fine effort from substitute Harry Wilson and late effort from Carlos Vinicius added the gloss.
Jimenez’s upturn in form has dovetailed nicely with Fulham’s as a whole – in their previous three outings heading into this London derby they had scored three to beat Wolves, three in a losing effort at Liverpool and five to down Forest in midweek.
Silva said he had “no doubts” that the overall performance of his side eclipsed Wednesday’s win, adding: “It was a brilliant performance from us. A great one at a very, very good level.
“We were the best team on the pitch, not just because we won 5-0 but also the way we performed from the first minute and the players understood the plan and executed it so well. The way we did it was almost a perfect afternoon for us.
“First of all of course, confidence builds confidence and the best example of this is Raul – since he scored the first goal against Villa.
“We are not really different now, we changed and adjusted some things but the faith in our players was always there.”
While he was able to celebrate 10 goals across the last two games, Silva was also delighted his side kept two clean sheets as Fulham moved into the top half of the table.
“I think it is crucial,” he added.
“Apart from the goals it has been the best feeling, it was crucial this afternoon and I told them at half-time when we were winning 3-0 that the main goal was to keep playing in our way, score the fourth if you can but the clean sheet has to be the challenge for the second half.
“It is really important to create this mentality, try to win games but also try to be as solid as you can…I’m really pleased for it and it was one of the best feelings we got.”
West Ham boss David Moyes bemoaned the short turnaround between Thursday night’s comeback win at Tottenham and their trip to Craven Cottage.
“I think just the carry over from the game,” he said when asked why he felt his side had fallen to a heavy loss.
“We used up too much energy in midweek and we weren’t able to get ourselves back, another Thursday fixture. No excuse for the result.
“(It is) disappointing but we have had two difficult away games this week, three points from those two games is not a bad return.”
The Hammers have had to get used to Thursday Europa League games followed by Sunday Premier League kick-offs this season but Moyes believes having a squad carrying a few injuries has not helped.
“We haven’t normally had to try and play all the same players, we could have easily had a game on Wednesday but we didn’t – it was Thursday.
“(Lucas) Paqueta has been carrying an injury, there is an illness in the camp so we have had to deal with that as well.”
Everton win again as Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin down toothless Chelsea
Everton’s second win in four days kept Sean Dyche’s side climbing the Premier League table as a toothless Chelsea found Goodison Park to be as difficult a place as Newcastle in a 2-0 defeat.
This may not have had the flourish of Thursday, when the hosts scored three goals in the last 11 minutes, but the manner of victory would have been no less pleasing to the Toffees boss.
Having kept the visitors at bay relatively comfortably, Abdoulaye Doucoure struck early in the second half and substitute Lewis Dobbin drilled home his first Premier League goal in added time as Everton moved four points clear of the bottom three despite their points deduction.
Chelsea had 71 per cent possession but familiar failings up front cost them and Mauricio Pochettino’s side have now won just twice in eight league games.
One downside to the afternoon for the hosts was fifth bookings of the season for defender Jarrad Branthwaite and midfielder Idrissa Gueye. The pair will be suspended for the trip to strugglers Burnley.
The loss of the former – excellent again in his partnership with James Tarkowski – will be a particular blow as Dyche is not blessed with centre-back options. Unused substitute Ben Godfrey’s only Premier League appearance came in the 89th minute in September while Michael Keane was not even in the matchday squad.
But this Everton team thrives on adversity, as they have shown since the 10-point deduction for breaching financial regulations last month.
Since being plunged into the bottom three following the punishment by an independent commission they have taken nine points from a possible 12.
Their extended run is 13 points from six with just one defeat and without the penalty Everton would be above their opponents in 10th.
The first half was significant only for injuries to both teams’ starting right-backs – Reece James and Ashley Young – a Cole Palmer booking for diving and Jordan Pickford saving the only shot on target from Palmer’s 20-yard curler.
Gueye was replaced by the fit-again Amadou Onana at half-time and buoyed by the confidence of Thursday’s win and the fact the visitors had not really hurt them, Everton set about formulating a response.
Winger Dwight McNeil, who has had a growing influence in recent games, had a low shot tipped around the post by Robert Sanchez before threading a pass through to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Although the England international’s attempt was charged down by Sanchez, who clattered into the striker in the process and later departed injured, the loose ball rolled to Doucoure and he drilled home his fifth of the season.
Branthwaite’s foul and booking gave Chelsea a free-kick 20 yards out but Pickford comfortably held Palmer’s low, drilled effort.
Chelsea sent on Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson to boost their attacking options but Pickford continued to be under-employed.
That was in part due to the increasing resilience of the defence in front of him, with bodies being thrown in all directions to keep out the threat.
“You can stick you points deduction up your a***” rang out in the closing stages at Goodison Park, where late substitute Dobbin wrapped up victory in the second minute of stoppage time.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
