Following the Professional Game Match Officials Limited’s (PGMOL) admission of “significant human error” during the Reds’ match against Tottenham, Gary Neville criticized Liverpool for issuing a “dangerous” statement. On Saturday night, Jurgen Klopp’s team left north London empty-handed after receiving two red cards and having a goal incorrectly disallowed.
Curtis Jones was controversially dismissed just before the half-hour mark for a risky challenge on Yves Bissouma. Following a superb feed from Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz believed he had given the visitors the lead a short while later.
The 26-year-old winger beat Guglielmo Vicario when through on goal, but the linesman signaled offside. Despite photos showing the Liverpool star to be onside, Diaz’s goal was disallowed.
Diogo Jota received two yellow cards in short succession in the second half, but many of his followers feel that the first one should not have been issued. Even so, the PGMOL later that evening issued a statement to apologize for the mistaken determination of Diaz’s offside.
Liverpool ultimately issued a statement in response to the announcement, which Neville has called “dangerous” and a “mistake.” The 48-year-old posted on X, then known as Twitter, saying: “Jurgen Klopp handled the situation last night after the game nicely.
“The majority of football fans will have understood what occurred and realized it was wrong! But Liverpool made a mistake with its statement tonight! All choices should be explored, but what does that mean? and sporting integrity, in addition to being ambiguous and combative, are perilous expressions.
“Sorry, we messed up, enough already! Last night, I stated this. Being sorry should be treasured and honored. Although it’s just a quick reaction, I have strong feelings about it.
Jones and Jota will no longer be available to Klopp for Liverpool’s trip to the Amex Stadium the following weekend, and Cody Gakpo’s availability for the Brighton match is still uncertain due to injury. The Reds manager made a subtle jab at Ange Postecoglou by saying that his club is not a “kicking team” after the game.
As stated by ESPN, Klopp added, “I played football and you didn’t. Everyone in here [at the news conference] probably thinks red card. “It looks terrible when you watch it in slow motion, but it doesn’t appear that horrible when you watch it in real time.
“The game is played in real time, but we evaluate it slowly. We still probably wouldn’t agree on many things if they didn’t employ slow motion. Curtis was not near committing the act on intent. We are not a team that kicks.
“How can Jota in this game receive two yellow cards and still leave the field?” First, it was definitely not his fault and he barely touched him. The issue is with that. We have a ton of stuff. When was the last time you heard of an 11 vs. 9 game? And the score was almost 11 to 8! There were no egregious errors.
