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Ange's Spurs cop VAR rub of green against Reds

George SessionsPress Association
Tottenham celebrate their 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Premier League. (AP PHOTO)
Camera IconTottenham celebrate their 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Premier League. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AP

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has reiterated he's "not a fan" of the VAR system after benefiting from what the referees' body admits was a failure to intervene during his team's dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, questioned the pressure on officials following the controversial incident during Saturday's Premier League heavyweight clash in London in which Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out.

Diaz looked to have put Liverpool ahead in the 34th minute when he raced onto a through ball and rifled it into the net, but the offside flag was immediately raised.

A VAR check occurred, with screens inside the stadium informing supporters, but play was able to quickly resume with the effort remaining offside.

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Later on Saturday, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited acknowledged "significant human error" and that VAR "failed to intervene" to prevent the error.

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And on Sunday, the body announced the officials responsible had been stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend.

Liverpool went on to finish Saturday's match with nine men and suffered late heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro's cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error.

"Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No," Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL's admission of error.

"I don't know why the people ... are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that's how it is."

Postecoglou highlighted that VAR will never be "errorless" after he watched his team's unbeaten record stretch to seven matches to put them just one point behind leaders Manchester City.

"I think I'm on record as saying that I've never really been a fan of it since it came in. Not for any other reason than I think that it complicates areas of the game that I thought were pretty clear in the past," he said.

"We used to understand that errors were part of the game, including officiating errors. You'd have to cop it and some people would cop it better than others but that was part of the game.

"I think that people are under the misconception that VAR is going to be errorless."

After a breathless start, Liverpool were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones was sent off following a VAR review.

Diaz found the net six minutes later, but after it was ruled out Tottenham went ahead when captain Son Heung-min tapped home from Richarlison's centre in the 36th minute.

Cody Gakpo levelled for Liverpool on the verge of half-time but Klopp's problems mounted when Diogo Jota was dismissed midway through the second half following two fouls on Destiny Udogie.

It meant Liverpool had to play the final 21 minutes with nine men and their resistance was broken when Porro's dangerous cross was diverted past Alisson by Matip.

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