Who would want to be a video assistant referee, eh? Well, Darren England certainly won’t want to be on duty for a fair while after his high-profile error came under justifiable scrutiny following Liverpool’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Tottenham beat nine-man Liverpool in north London on Saturday evening, a 2-1 victory that came courtesy of a last-minute Joel Matip own goal. Despite two red cards and a stoppage-time winner, there was another moment that had everybody talking after the final whistle.
Luis Diaz found the back of the net during the Reds’ defeat at Spurs in the first half, but saw his effort ruled out for offside. An all too brief VAR check led to no intervention, with Liverpool’s goal being chalked just before Tottenham went 1-0 up.
However, the PGMOL have since issued an apology, admitting Diaz’s goal should have stood. So, why was it disallowed?
Fans watching from home were mystified as to why they were not shown the offside lines normally drawn by VAR for the Diaz goal, with a very quick check ensuring the on-field decision of no-goal stood.
However, apparently VAR England thought that referee Simon Hooper had awarded the goal on the pitch. When VAR then checked Diaz’s strike, they deemed it onside, with England telling Hooper that the check was complete.
By saying “check complete”, England was confirming to Hooper that his decision was correct, with the referee then restarting the game. However, the miscommunication and “significant human error” meant the wrong decision was ultimately given, with England thinking the goal had been awarded on the field.
So the VAR, Darren England, checked offside thinking the onfield decision was “goal.”
It was a quick offside check because it was clear Diaz was onside, so he told the referee “check complete”.
In telling the ref “check complete” he is saying the onfield decision was correct.
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) September 30, 2023
Given play had restarted with a Tottenham free kick, Hooper was unable to go back and award the goal according to the rulebook as play had commenced.
Such an error seems almost comical in nature, with the PGMOL since apologising to Liverpool. However, that will come as little comfort to the Reds, who have arguably been cost a point by an officiating mistake.
The PGMOL released a statement after the game admitting their error. They stated: “The goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials.
“This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.
“PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.”
They also said they “will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.”
Son Heung-min had given Tottenham the lead after Curtis Jones’ red card, with Cody Gakpo replying just before half-time to make it 1-1. Diogo Jota, a half-time substitute, also received a red card in the second half, with Liverpool conceding a heartbreaking 96th-minute own goal to gift Spurs all three points.
England and assistant Dan Cook have also been removed from their appointments in the Premier League’s final two fixtures of gameweek seven.
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