Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp demands Spurs match to be replayed after VAR mistake
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has demanded a replay of their Premier League match against Tottenham after a goal was wrongly disallowed.
Luiz Diaz’s goal on Saturday was ruled out for offside on the field, which was upheld after a review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) – even though replays with lines drawn showed the Colombian forward was clearly onside.
Klopp said: “It’s really important that as big as football is and important as football is we deal with it in a proper way.
“All the people involved, the on-field referee, linesman, fourth official and especially in this case VAR, didn’t do that on purpose.
“It was an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for it afterwards.
“Some people probably don’t want me to say, but not as the manager of Liverpool so much, more as a football person, the only outcome should be a replay.
“That’s how it is. It probably will not happen.”
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VAR audio from Liverpool v Spurs
After the decision, the VAR team acknowledged Diaz was onside in a mix-up that led to them believing the on-field call was to award a goal.
In the audio released of the VAR team’s response to the incident, it takes about 30 seconds for VAR Darren England and his assistant Daniel Cook to judge Diaz was onside.
Not realising the linesman had raised his flag for offside, the VAR said: “Check complete, check complete. That’s fine, perfect.”
Confusion then arose amongst the referee, the VAR, the VAR assistant and the replay operator.
Liverpool’s Luis Diaz scored a goal that was later incorrectly disallowed
When the replay operator pointed out the on-field decision was to rule the goal out for offside, it took a few seconds for the team to understand.
“Oli’s calling to delay the game,” the replay operator said, referring to Oli Kohout, VAR hub operations executive at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) – the body responsible for refereeing.
Swearing ensued in the VAR audio, before saying they “can’t do anything” as they’ve “restarted the game”.
The Liverpool manager added: “The argument against [a replay] would be it opens the gates [to more replays after contentious decisions in future].
“It is unprecedented, it has not happened before.
“I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.”
Asked whether the club had asked – or would ask – the Premier League for a replay formally, Klopp added: “At this stage, we are still going through the information we have.”
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The PGMOL said in a statement “standards fell short of expectations” and it identified three key learnings “to mitigate against the risk of a future error”.
PGMOL will stress the importance of accuracy to its video match officials, while a “new VAR communication protocol will be developed to enhance the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions”.
The group added: “As an additional step to the process, the VAR will confirm the outcome of the VAR check process with the AVAR before confirming the final decision to the on-field officials.
“We recognise standards fell short of expectations and acknowledged the error to Liverpool immediately after the conclusion of the fixture.”
England and Cook have not been included among the officials for duty in the coming weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Liverpool lost the game in the final minutes to an own goal from defender Joel Matip.
Fans of the Reds were left further aggrieved after two of their players were sent off, including a VAR decision rescinding Curtis Jones’ yellow card for a red.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
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