Klopp claims there was another “unprecedented” howler in Liverpool’s loss to Spurs
Liverpool’s controversial 2-1 defeat to Tottenham last weekend led Jurgen Klopp to claim the referees made two “unprecedented” mistakes during the match.
Jurgen Klopp demands Spurs replay after VAR error. Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool’s wrongly disallowed goal was NOT the only “unprecedented” referee howler in their controversial defeat at Tottenham.
The Reds boss also thought Diogo Jota’s sending off was something that hadn’t been seen before. The Liverpool forward received two yellow cards in the space of two minutes, reducing Klopp’s squad to nine men. They ended up losing 2-1 when Joel Matip fired into his own net in injury time. Jota’s first booking – seen as harsh by fans and pundits alike – came when he brought down Spurs left-back Iyenoma Udogi. A minute later, the Liverpool half-time substitute saw a second yellow when he tackled Udogie after a turnover.
Klopp is still furious over the decision to sack the Portuguese. Liverpool appealed the first-half dismissal of Curtis Jones for a dangerous stud challenge on Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma – which also left him unhappy – but cannot appeal against the two yellows because there was no case of mistaken identity. “Diogo Jota also got two yellow cards because he never touched a player,” claimed the Reds manager. “It’s also outrageous. But it’s good.”
Obviously not good for Klopp, who also demanded a replay of the match. The crux of the argument came when Liverpool thought they had taken an early lead through Luis Diaz, but the offside flag was raised and VAR began a review to ensure the decision was correct. The problem was that the Stockley Park officials responsible for the review thought there was a decision on the pitch to score a goal, so they did not correct Hooper and told him the review was over. PMGOL released audio of the heated exchange between the officials on Monday, not that it changed Klopp’s feelings about the incident.
Diogo Jota received two yellow cards in the second half
“The sound didn’t change it at all because I didn’t really care why things were happening. I saw the result, I saw the goal and I saw that it didn’t count. It’s really important that we get it right,” the German said ahead of his side’s Europa League game against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday. “The only result would be a repeat… probably not going to happen. The argument against that is that if we open this gate, everyone will be asking for it. I think the situation is unprecedented. I am 56 years old and I am quite used to making bad decisions. But as far as I remember, nothing like that happened. “That’s why it should be the last.”