02 October 2023 , 15:03
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Liverpool are set to appeal the red card that was shown to Curtis Jones during Saturday's controversial defeat against Tottenham.
Jones, 22, was shown a red card in the 26th minute by referee Simon Hooper for a mistimed challenge on Yves Bissouma following an intervention from VAR. The Red midfielder was initially shown a yellow card by Hooper, who changed his decision after watching the tackle back on the pitchside monitor.
Diogo Jota was also sent off in a match which was marred by a significant VAR blunder. Despite the intervention of technology, a first half goal from Luis Diaz was wrongly chalked off for offside - a mistake which led to the PGMOL issuing an apology to the Reds immediately after the game.
The apology attributed the blunder as a "significant human error" after VAR referee Darren England failed to realise the goal had initially been disallowed. However, Liverpool responded with a statement of their own, slamming the incident and threatening further action.
Jones' red card was the first major incident of a frenetic match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which the hosts won 2-1 right at the death. The decision to upgrades Jones' yellow card to a red one was slammed at the time by Gary Neville, who was commentating on the match for Sky Sports.
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He said of the challenge: "No, I know when you’re doing someone on purpose, I've done myself in the past, and he’s not doing that. He's [the VAR] showing him [the referee] the end motion and that’s not how it actually is - his foot slips over the top of the ball.
"It’s never a red card and he’s going to get one if it'll ruin the game. I think generally, he’s gone in genuinely but his foot slips on top of the ball. I’m not sure, I never am nowadays, I’m less sure about football than I ever have been but I don’t think he’s gone in with any malice.
Join the debate! Do you think Jones deserved to see red vs Tottenham? Let us know here.
Jones had initially been shown a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper"If you see the end part of it in slow motion, you’ll come to the conclusion that it’s a red card. You have to look at the full motion at full speed, the speed of these players going into the tackles, Bissouma is flying in and so is Curtis Jones. But look, I felt a yellow would’ve been fine with the ambiguity that exists on something like that."
Liverpool will be slapped with a £25,000 fine by the FA as a direct consequence of their conduct during said match, too. Alongside Jones and Jota, who both saw red, four other Liverpool players were cautioned by Hooper during the game. Jurgen Klopp's assistant, Peter Krawietz, was also shown a yellow card.
It remains to be seen what steps Liverpool will take in relation to Diaz' chalked off goal. Their statement hitting out at VAR read: "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. 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."