A display of officiating, so inept, by both referee, and those responsible for VAR, that it was almost inevitable, that one last incident would play out in favour of Spurs. A 96th minute own goal, by the otherwise superb Joel Matip, dually robbing Liverpool of a deserved point, in an action packed game in North London.
From the moment Curtis Jones was wrongly red-carded by Simon Hooper, after VAR intervened, Liverpool were up against it. It was decision that proves the old adage, that officials too often know the rules, but don’t know the game. Jones surely showed no intent in the tackle and his foot clearly simply slipped over the ball. It’s mystifying that VAR thought otherwise and they compounded the error when disallowing a goal by Diaz, who we now know was on-side. A decision, the repercussions of which could be game changing in the months ahead. Moments later, Spurs went ahead through Son, but as the half-time whistle beckoned, Jurgen Klopp’s men got themselves back in the game.
Cody Gapko, who has scored crucial goals already this season, spun in the box, to rifle the ball home, but was injured so badly in giving his team the equaliser that he was replaced at half-time. His replacement, Diogo Jota, then added to Liverpool’s woes and near impossible task, in earning the wrath of myopic Simon Hooper, twice, in the space of ten minutes. Already booked, even though Bissouma, had actually tripped himself up. However, on a yellow, he then stupidly committed a petulant foul, that saw Liverpool down to nine men.
With Spurs now clear favourites to win and so obviously in almost total possession of the ball, Klopp made changes to try and hang on to a point. Endo, Trent, and Gravenbach, all introduced for an heroic defensive display, that so nearly saw Liverpool depart North London with a draw.
Whilst of course, nine men should never out-fox eleven, Liverpool were brilliant in thwarting a Spurs side who clearly quickly ran out of ideas. The discipline they showed, in contrast to the stupidity of Jota, was fantastic. They narrowed the pitch, where rarely stretched, but as the clock clicked into the 96th minute, a final twist robbed Liverpool of a deserved point. With the ball flashed across the penalty box, Matip tried to clear with his left foot, when perhaps he should have gone with his right. Allison, who’d previously pulled off two stunning saves, had no chance, beating the ball with his fit in frustration, as it ricochet out of the net.
So on a day when Liverpool could have topped the league table, with Manchester City beaten at Wolves, VAR defeated Liverpool at Tottenham. Just what the outcome will be, for an ‘error’ of such magnitude, remains to be seen, but surely a replayed game should be considered. What is more, at this point, it’s surely not sufficient for the excuse to be, that it was human error. Off-side though, is not an opinion, it’s a measurable fact. Could this be the end of VAR?
