-Credit:Getty Images
Liverpool was left fuming after Lucas Bergvall was allowed to stay on the pitch to score Tottenham’s winner in last night’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg – but it seems referee Stuart Atwell’s decision not to show a second yellow card is being backed by his contemporaries.
The game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ended in controversy as the Reds slipped to only their second defeat of the season after Bergvall struck late to hand Spurs the advantage in the tie, with the second leg being played at Anfield next month.
Arne Slot and his side though are adamant Bergvall shouldn’t have been on the pitch in the first place, having somehow escaped a second yellow card just moments before the goal.
READ MORE: Rodrigo Bentancur update as Tottenham star posts for first time after injury scare vs Liverpool
READ MORE: ‘I heard Trent Alexander-Arnold message loud and clear as next Liverpool step now obvious’
Having been booked for an earlier foul on Luis Diaz, the 18-year-old brought down Kostas Tsimikas with a late challenge as Liverpool looked to launch an attack, but the incident was not addressed by Atwell, with VAR unable to intervene on yellow card matters.
Slot and his coaching staff were left incensed on the sidelines, although Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou insisted the right call had been made.
“No, he wasn’t (fortunate to avoid a red card),” Postecoglou said. “He wasn’t because… the rule is – and we’ve been told for quite a while now – that if advantage gets played, as long as it’s not a cynical tackle, then a yellow card (does not get awarded).”
Liverpool were incensed that Lucas Bergvall should have received a second yellow card -Credit:Getty Images
Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney has now backed up Postecoglou’s comments after revealing what another referee told him about the incident, with the former Watford star insisting Atwell’s decision was following the letter of the law.
“I just texted a referee friend of mine who works in the Premier League and he said exactly what Ange said word for word,” Deeney told CBS Sports.
“Apparently now, if that tackle happens, the referee can play it on and it only goes back to being a yellow card if he deems it to be a reckless foul.
“Not a late tackle like we’ve just seen, but a reckless, dangerous tackle. Then they can go back and yellow card him.”
Liverpool.com says: If that is the case, then that is a very flawed rule. How Bergvall’s challenge on Tsimikas cannot be deemed worthy of a yellow card is simply astonishing, and Liverpool has every right to feel aggrieved that he was still on the pitch to score the winner.