Spurs draw no bad result on paper, but there’s no consolation in being robbed

No-one can accuse Liverpool of not entertaining neutral football fans. For us supporters I think it’s a slightly different story though. The game’s narrative shifted about 4 times in the last ten minutes.

It looked for all the world we were going to hold on and maybe sneak a 1-0 win, then Spurs equalised in a goal reminiscent of a few others at Anfield where a player who scores once every 8 seasons puts one in the top corner.

Then the game became a showpiece for the match officials. Referee Jon Moss and his linesman might be trying to get a TV comedy show and after last night’s match I think there will be a queue of channels trying to get their signatures.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, February 4, 2018: Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, goalkeeper Loris Karius and Joel Matip complain as referee Jonathan Moss awards a penalty with the helop of the assistant referee during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

So the first was offside, the linesman told the referee Harry Kane was offside but the referee gave the penalty regardless. Not to mention Kane went over far too easily. Justice was done this time round and Loris Karius made an amazingly brave decision to stick to the centre of the goal and pushed away Kane’s effort.

A 1-1 draw, with a dodgy penalty saved seemed like a decent result and one I think many Liverpool supporters would have taken considering our second half performance.

But then Mo Salah weaved his magic and scored an unbelievable goal which we all thought had snatched victory at the death and although we probably didn’t deserve all three points, a goal of that quality usually deserves to win a game.

Of course our defence was bound to give them another chance before full time and the officials certainly helped. Following a poor header by our £75m defender, Eric Lamela snuck in and on first viewing I thought he’d swiped him.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, February 4, 2018: Tottenham Hotspur’s Erik Lamela dives under pressure from Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk as he wins a second penalty for Tottenham Hotspur in injury time during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Much to my relief Moss waved play on but our friend the linesman was back. Maybe he’d stuck a bet on that the game would finish a draw and he somehow saw contact being made between Van Dijk’s leg and Lamela. One replay perfectly shows Van Dijk pulling his leg back at the final second and Lamela going over theatrically.

It takes a brave referee to give two penalties against Liverpool at the Kop end. It takes pure incompetance to give two wrong penalties against one team in the same match.

And that’s where the bitterness comes in. Yes a draw was probably a fair result but having two penalties given against you in one match when neither should have been given makes you feel slightly hard done by.

Someone came up with the catchphrase that “it all balances out in the end” but having watched football religiously for over thirty years I’m going to disagree with that.

“It is hard to accept some of the decisions today – you have to defend with big passion and we did, but we didn’t get the benefit of it." https://t.co/2Pw03hJNTn

— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) February 5, 2018

Some decisions go your way and some don’t and you invariably remember the ones that go against you but to have two penalties erroneously given against you at home is one that you might not forget for a while. Especially in a “6-pointer” against a team also battling it out for a top four spot.

I was further baffled by the majority of pundits saying that both were the correct decision. Lovren’s failed attempt to clear, and brushing of the ball apparently meant that Harry Kane wasn’t offside. I find that rule hard to understand.

If a defender is trying to clear the ball because the league’s top goal scorer is stood behind him but fails to do so for whatever reason (and being a bit crap is a legitimate reason in some cases) how does that stop the striker from being offside? Surely that’s the definition of offside – the ball is played to a player standing in an offside position and the defence has been unable to block the pass.

And then the Lamela penalty pundits claimed there was contact. Let’s just ignore the fact that Lamela was offside in the build up and focus on the operative word in the previous sentence. Contact. Yes Van Dijk swung a leg but he pulled out and brushed the back of Lamela who went down like a tonne of bricks.

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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, February 4, 2018: Liverpool’s manager Jürgen Klopp laughs in shock at assistant referee Eddie Smart after he went against referee Jonathan Moss to impose two penalties for Tottenham Hotspur during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Having booked Dele Alli earlier for a blatant dive and having given a contentious penalty against us already you would have thought the referee would have given the home team the benefit of the doubt.

As you can probably tell I’m seething and it hasn’t particularly subsided. Yes we’re above Spurs and yes we’ve got easier games coming up and yes on reflection the result was a fair one based on how the game went. Unfortunately, that is of absolutely no consolation for me.

If football was fair then it might not garner the same level of interest that it does. There’s no doubting the drama is what attracts people to it.

You can only hope that the squad has the character now to rebound from the disappointment and use the injustice felt to galvanise the spirit of the players with four crucial months upon us.

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Source: anfieldhq.com