(Reuters) – Liverpool’s controversial loss at Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend should be replayed after VAR wrongly disallowed a goal and Curtis Jones was sent off, the Merseyside club’s manager Juergen Klopp said on Wednesday.
Liverpool were beaten 2-1 at Spurs in the Premier League in a match where Klopp’s side were reduced to nine men and had a Luis Diaz goal wrongly ruled out by VAR.
Diaz was actually onside but confusion in the VAR hub about the original decision led to the game restarting with a free kick to Spurs rather than Liverpool being awarded a goal.
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) subsequently apologised for the error but Klopp said it did not make much difference.
“I think that the outcome should be a replay,” Klopp told reporters ahead of Thursday’s Europa League game against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.
“Probably will not happen. The argument against that will probably be that if we open that gate then everyone will ask for it.
“I think the situation is that unprecedented that… something like that, as far as I can remember, never happened. That’s why a replay would be the right thing.”
Klopp said the officials should not be blamed for the errors but that the rules should have allowed them to correct their decision.
“They did not do that on purpose. And we should not forget that, yes, it was a mistake, an obvious mistake,” Klopp added.
“We should create a situation, or try to create a situation where these people can make their best decisions. In a situation like this, real, massive mistake of all people involved, then correct it in that moment.
“But obviously, these people thought that’s not what they can do. Fine, then. Let’s do a replay and if it happens next time, give them the chance to do it like this.”
Klopp also said Jones’ red card for a challenge on Spurs midfielder Yves Bissouma was a “clear and obvious error”.
“I stick to the opinion that it is not a red card,” he said. “The ref got called to the screen and saw for the first three seconds a frozen picture. I would give immediately a red card for that picture.
“Then he sees the replay in slow motion and I would have given a red card for the slow motion, but in real time it is not a red card.”
Diogo Jota was the other Liverpool player sent off after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.
Liverpool are top of Group E in the Europa League after beating LASK Linz in their opening match.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
