Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, and the outcome was marred by controversial decisions that left many baffled.
Alan Shearer, a former footballer and pundit, expressed his disbelief at the decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal, describing it as “incomprehensible.”
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In the match, Liverpool experienced their first loss of the 2023-24 season in North London, and it was a game filled with contentious moments.
Curtis Jones received a red card after a VAR review, initially receiving a yellow card from referee Simon Hooper for a challenge on Yves Bissouma.
Liverpool believed they had taken the lead through Luis Diaz, but the goal was ruled offside. Subsequent replays indicated that Diaz was actually in a legal position when Mo Salah played him through, and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) later admitted to “a significant human error” after a quick VAR check by referee Darren England.
Jurgen Klopp‘s team would go on to lose the match, and they also had Diogo Jota sent off with two yellow cards in the second half.
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Son Heung-min scored the opening goal for Tottenham in the 38th minute, but Cody Gakpo equalized for Liverpool in first-half stoppage time.
Despite valiant defending with only nine players, Liverpool’s hopes were dashed when Joel Matip inadvertently scored an own goal in the 96th minute.
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Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer expressed his bewilderment at the disallowed goal by Diaz. The Premier League record scorer said,
“It’s incomprehensible. The one bit of VAR that we have accepted, learnt and can’t argue about is the offside. Now this is going to put so much doubt into decisions that have gone on beforehand and in the future because of this. It is a monumental error, he is clearly onside. We actually spotted straight away within a second or two that it’s not offside.
What we’re led to believe is that Darren England, who was in the VAR hub and Daniel Cook who was the assistant VAR, they have done all that they should have done in terms of drawing the lines. Instead of saying to the referee Simon Hooper you need to allow a goal, for some reason, he’s had a huge lapse in concentration and said check complete.”
Said Shearer.
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Shearer questioned why the VAR referee, Darren England, and the assistant VAR, Daniel Cook, didn’t rectify the mistake before the game continued.
He argued that there was ample time (around 30-35 seconds) between the decision and the restart of play and that Cook should have intervened to prevent the error from affecting the match further.
Liverpool is my Religion and Anfield is my Church. 17th May 1996 the date I had my blood coloured red. The one you love the most you can not live without it and that is football to me.
