Gary Neville brands Liverpool’s ‘vague and aggressive’ reaction to PGMOL apology ‘a mistake’ after Luis Diaz’s strike against Tottenham was erroneously overturned by VAR
- Liverpool fell to a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in a tense battle on Saturday evening
- The Reds ended the game on nine men with Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota sent off
- Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here
Gary Neville was quick to respond to Liverpool’s unprecedented statement on Sunday after they had a goal disallowed on Saturday under controversial circumstances.
The Reds fell to a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in north London on Saturday evening, although they had in fact taken a 1-0 lead after Curtis Jones’ red card, with Luis Diaz seemingly scoring on the break.
However, the Colombian’s opener was scrubbed off for offside, although VAR images clearly show that he was being played onside by Cristian Romero – something that the PGMOL later apologised for in an admission of fault.
In response, Liverpool issued a statement of their own, calling for ‘escalation and resolution’ to the failure to spot the correct decision, as well as claiming that sporting integrity had been ‘undermined’ by the decision.
However, the Manchester United legend has quickly called out Liverpool’s actions on social media, claiming that their statement in response was ‘a mistake’.
Gary Neville has slammed Liverpool’s statement in reaction to the contentious VAR call on Saturday
Luis Diaz was denied an opener in north London, before nine-men Liverpool fell to a 2-1 defeat
Replays showed that the decision was the wrong one, with PGMOL coming out after the match to issue a statement
Your browser does not support iframes.
‘Jurgen Klopp handled the situation well last night after the game,’ the former England defender wrote. ‘Most football fans will have had empathy with what happened and recognised it was wrong!
‘However Liverpool’s statement tonight is a mistake! Talk of exploring all options ( what does that mean!!! ) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases along with being vague and aggressive.
‘Sorry we f***** up was enough!! I said this last night. Sorry should be respected and not undervalued.
‘This is a snap reaction that can always be wrong but I feel strongly about it.’
Diaz’s strike came as the visitors were reduced to 10 men after a Jones challenge caught Yves Bissouma high above his boot, with the game in the balance.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min then got the hosts in front on 36 minutes after a fine move involving James Maddison and Richarlison, before Cody Gakpo restored parity on the stroke of half-time.
The game had been played at a frantic rate, before Diogo Jota joined Jones in leaving the field, seeing red after two bookings in the 69th minute, leaving Tottenham with a two-man advantage.
The hosts finally made the all-important breakthrough to make their numbers tell, although it was an own goal from Joel Matip in the 96th minute that ultimately handed them all three points.
The disallowed strike came just three minutes before Son Heung-min’s opener for Spurs
Liverpool ended the game with nine men as Diogo Jota joined Curtis Jones in being sent off
Including both of Jota’s cautions, the game saw 11 yellows during the game, which saw a number of contentious VAR calls made.
As expected, Klopp was quizzed on both the PGMOL statement and his views on the offside call, but claimed that the apology does not help his side’s situation.
‘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.’
It was later revealed that the game’s VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook – who were stood down for the rest of the matchweek – were in action in the UAE just two days before the significant error.
Posting their statement in response on Sunday night, the Reds said: ‘Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
‘We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
Jurgen Klopp has slammed PGMOL’s statement which admitted that Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham should have stood
Klopp claimed after the match that he knew instantly that the Colombian striker was onside
The statement continued: ‘This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
‘In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.’
‘It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
‘That such failings have already been categorised as “significant human error” is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.’
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Source: Read Full Article