Premier League

REF Simon Hooper was told that Luis Diaz’ goal against Spurs should have been allowed.But the information from blunder-VAR Darren England came TOO LATE for Hooper to reverse his decision and award the goal.
Simon Hooper was told by VAR that Diaz’s goal should have been allowedCredit: SKY SPORTS
Luis Diaz thought he’d put Liverpool aheadCredit: Reuters
Simon Hooper was the official for the matchCredit: Alamy
PGMOL chiefs have conceded that England errantly told Hooper “check complete” in the mistaken belief that Diaz had not been flagged offside.
Hooper then restarted play with a Tottenham free-kick.
It was only when the ball next went out of play, for a throw-in to Liverpool, that Hooper was informed of the cock-up that cost Jurgen Klopp’s side a legitimate goal.
However, that meant there was nothing Hooper could do under the International FA Board protocols on VAR use.
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The protocols state: “If play has stopped and been restarted, the referee may not undertake a ‘review’ except for a case of mistaken identity or for a potential sending-off offence relating to violent conduct, spitting, biting or extremely offensive, insulting and/or abusive action(s).”
That does not extend to going back to a flawed offside decision, as in this case.
And while a number of Liverpool fans in particular are complaining about Manchester United being awarded a match-winning penalty after the full-time whistle in their game at Brighton two seasons ago, the situation there was very different.
Referee Chris Kavanagh failed to spot Neal Maupay clearly handling off the line nand had signalled the end of the game.
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But the offence was seen by the VAR – ironically Hooper – and, as play had not restarted, Kavanagh rightly allowed added time for the penalty to be converted by Bruno Fernandes.
On Saturday, had Hooper “gone back” to the decision and awarded the goal, it would have been a fundamental breach of the protocols and the Laws of the Game. 
It would have led to a Spurs protest and – as a blatant violation of the Laws – would have been likely to see the FA forced to agree with the Premier League that the match would be declared null and void and had to be replayed. More

JURGEN KLOPP has admitted it is “tough” to deal with the VAR shambles as he slammed three decisions in Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham.Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were sent off for the Reds with Klopp claiming both were unfairly dismissed.

Jurgen Klopp fumed at several decisions during and after the matchCredit: Reuters
But the Liverpool boss was most aggrieved with the decision to rule out Luis Diaz’s first-half strike for offside, which would have put his side 1-0 up.
The PGMOL released an apology after the match admitting Diaz’s goal should have stood, blaming a “significant human error”.
SunSport understands VAR Darren England clearly saw Diaz was ONSIDE but forgot what the on-field decision was.
He then accidentally gave the “check complete” signal believing he was AWARDING Diaz’s goal when, in fact, he was allowing play to continue at 0-0.
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When Klopp was asked about the incident before learning of the PGMOL’s apology, he said: “When we saw it, we thought ‘that’s not offside’. They drew the lines wrong.
“It is so tough to deal with it. I’m now relatively calm, and during the game we were really calm. Your heart rate is 160-180… and you see that, and the red card and the next red card. It’s difficult.”
He also criticised Diogo Jota’s dismissal and felt his side’s style of play did not warrant two red cards.
He added: “How can Jota in this game go off the pitch with two yellow cards, the first he barely touched him and for sure not his fault.
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“That is what is the problem. We have so many things. When did you last hear a game with 11 v 9? And we were close to 11v 8! There were no horrible fouls.
“We were not kicking players or whatever. The boys made a super intense game of it, it is crazy how hard we fought. In the end we got nothing. The result is gone but the performance will stay with me forever. I loved our attitude and our desire.
“They didn’t do it on purpose, I know that, but mistakes still happen. If we want to talk about it do it properly and not with creating headlines with emotional managers.”
And the irate German was quick to dismiss the PGMOL’s eventual apology – insisting it does not help his side.
He told a press conference: “Who does that help? We had that situation in the Man Utd game.
Luis Diaz was wrongly deemed offside before scoring at Tottenham and VAR failed to intervene
“Did Wolves get the points for it? We won’t get the points for it.
“We all thought that when VAR came in it would make things easier.”
Klopp felt just as strongly about the call to show Jones a red card for his tackle on Yves Bissouma.
He claimed it was not a bad tackle, with Gary Neville also suggesting Jones was unfortunate to see red as he did not intend to slip over the ball.
Klopp added: “I never saw a game like this with the most unfair circumstances, crazy decisions.
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“We scored an own goal, that is really tough to take but I am really proud. The first red card, Curtis steps on the ball and goes over. Not a bad tackle.
“It looks different in slow motion. He steps full throttle on the ball and goes over the ball. That is unlucky.” More