Redemption for refs? Klopp insists officials' mistake unintentional in Diaz goal drama

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp || Image credit: Imago

PREMIER LEAGUE Redemption for refs? Klopp insists officials' mistake unintentional in Diaz goal drama

Mark Kinyanjui 12:30 - 01.10.2023

Klopp insists whoever made the call not to have Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal to be reviewed by VAR “did not do it on purpose”.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has defended referee Simon Hooper's decision not to allow his disallowed goal against Tottenham to stand on Saturday night.

 The Reds missed an opportunity to go top of the Premier League after a defeat to the North London-based side.

Joel Matip's last gasp own goal cost Liverpool a point, but Klopp was fuming after having a goal wrongly disallowed for offside and two men sent off in another dramatic game.

Curtis Jones saw red in the 25th minute when VAR Darren England persuaded Simon Hooper to review the midfielder's tackle on Yves Bissouma on the pitch side monitor, and the referee upgraded his yellow card to a red.

The decision was probably justified, as although Jones won the ball first, he clattered onto the foot of Bissouma which on another day, could probably have significantly injured him.

In the 69th minute substitute Diogo Jota received a second yellow card in as many minutes for a foul on Destiny Udogie, leaving Liverpool down to nine men. His sending off was also warranted, as he blatantly plunged into Udogie while on a yellow card as the left back started breaking away at pace.

However, the decision not to award Luis Diaz  a goal in the 34th minute when it was clearly onside left Klopp up in arms.

Diaz was flagged for offside, but TV replays showed it was clearly onside, and there was no VAR intervention at all. The PGMOL admitted after the match that it was a wrong call down to “human error” and said it was a “clear and obvious error that should have resulted in a goal”.

“Does that help? No. We had that situation at the Man United game (against Wolves last month) – did they get points for that? No. We will not get points for it today so it doesn't help.

“Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field. I think we all thought when VAR came in, it might make things easier. I don't know why people are acting under that much pressure. Today the decision was made really quickly for the goal. It changed the momentum of the game.”

“In the first moment I saw it, it's clearly not offside but then it's (given) offside, so I try to think they must have a better view. But at half-time we knew. With normal pictures, it's easy to see now. But I'm pretty sure whoever made that decision, didn't do it on purpose.”

The German coach says that referee Simon Hooper never explained the decision to him after the match.

“How can the ref explain the situation? The linesman thought obviously it's worth watching and looking again and that's why he raised the flag. In the good old days, a linesman should have seen that as well, that this is not offside, because we had these situations quite frequently and when you see it back it's pretty clear... but, again, nobody did it on purpose.”