Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank said officials made a “huge mistake” in allowing Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike to score and Spurs lost 2-1.
Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead midway through the second half with a header past Tottenham captain Cristian Romero, but Frank said the striker stuck his hands behind the defender.
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville said in co-commentary that it was “not a foul”, but Frank felt it was the worst decision the referee had made in a game where Spurs finished with nine men.
“I can’t believe it, it’s a big mistake,” Frank told Sky Sports. “I think there are points you can argue about red, and a lot of points you can argue about yellow, but you’re very wrong about the latter.”
After Alexander Isaac’s goal put Liverpool in the lead, Richarlison grabbed a late goal for a grandstand finish before Ekitike’s header was the winner.
Frank added: “It was Ekitike with his hands behind his back. I don’t understand why he (referee John Brooks) couldn’t see that.”
“But luckily we have VAR, so they will bail us out when we need them and they didn’t. That was the second mistake.”
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Hugo Ekitike scores Liverpool’s second goal in the Premier League match against Spurs.
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp agreed it was a foul on Romero. He said: “I can’t believe Romero didn’t take the free kick.
“As a result, he got furious because it wasn’t given as a foul and went after the referee, but he shouldn’t have gotten a yellow card for hitting the referee like that.
“That has a big impact late in the game.”
Romero was shown a second yellow in the 93rd minute for kicking out Ibrahima Konate, who fouled the centre-back in an aerial duel.
“I don’t know what happened with the first (yellow) ball. I’ll ask the referee,” Frank said. “But in the second one, you understand the feeling of a match between two big players. Konate passes Kuti. His foot lands on Kuti’s head, but that’s not a yellow.”
“You feel it as there’s a little bit of movement and it’s very hot. That’s where you make good decisions.”
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Cristian Romero was shown a second yellow card for kicking out against Ibrahima Konate and was sent off, leaving Spurs with nine men against Liverpool.
Tottenham were already one man behind after Xavi Simmons was shown a straight red card following a VAR check for a foul on Virgil van Dijk.
“I don’t like this as a red card,” Frank said. “It wasn’t reckless, it wasn’t coming with extraordinary force, he was chasing Van Dijk, trying to put pressure on him and then he changed direction.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Spurs were reduced to 10 men on pitchside monitors after John Brooks sent off Xavi Simmons for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk.
“Unfortunately, his foot is on his Achilles tendon and you have to be smarter, stop doing that, so you’re saying we’re not allowed any more physical contact?”
“The next thing you can think of is three games (suspension), which I don’t understand. How can they give you three games for something that’s not reckless? That’s absolutely wrong. We probably won’t be able to appeal that.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slott said: “I don’t think he had that intention, but I think it was where he touched him from behind, at what height, on his calf. We’ve already had a few games where other teams have committed similar fouls against us and we didn’t get a red card, but this time we didn’t get a red card.”
“So there’s always going to be a bit of a reliance on who’s in charge of VAR and which call gives a red card.”
