Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool: Luis Diaz goal ruled out by VAR
PGMOL admitted that “significant human error” was involved in disallowing Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham; The VAR team mistakenly thought the on-field decision was a goal; VAR Darren England and Assistant VAR Dan Cook withdrew from the following matches
Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham was wrongly ruled out after VAR mistakenly thought a goal had been decided on the pitch.
Immediately after Tottenham’s 2-1 win, PGMOL admitted there was a “significant human error” in disallowing Diaz’s strike, adding: “It was a clear and obvious factual error and should have led to a goal through VAR intervention.”
VAR Darren England initially allegedly failed to check whether Diaz had been played by the Tottenham defender by drawing visible lines on the screen.
But, in a remarkable twist, it has now emerged the VAR incorrectly thought the on-field decision was that a goal had been awarded, when in fact it had not been.
This resulted in England, despite realising that Diaz was onside, relaying a message of ‘check complete’ and the goal being ruled out.
There was less than 40 seconds between Diaz’s shot hitting the back of the net and play being restarted, while there was less than 10 seconds between TV viewers being shown a VAR review was taking place and the check being completed.
The score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was 0-0 at the time, with Liverpool down to 10 players after Curtis Jones’ red card.
To add insult to injury for Liverpool, Heung-Min Son scored Spurs’ opener two minutes later, while a Joel Matip own goal in injury-time handed the hosts a 2-1 win.
PGMOL’s VAR apologies listed
Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool, September 30 2023
Luis Diaz has a goal ruled out for Liverpool after being incorrectly ruled offside, with VAR Darren England failing to intervene.
Man Utd 1-0 Wolves, August 14 2023
Andre Onana recklessly challenged Sasa Kalajdzic inside the Manchester United box but VAR Jonathan Moss failed to instruct on-pitch referee Simon Hooper to check the pitchside monitor for a penalty.
Tottenham 2-1 Brighton, April 8 2023
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg appeared to foul Kaoru Mitoma in the Tottenham box but referee Stuart Attwell declined to award a penalty and VAR Michael Salisbury supported the decision.
Everton 0-1 Man City, February 26 2023
Referee Paul Tierney and VAR Chris Kavanagh missed a handball from Manchester City midfielder Rodri, failing to award Everton a penalty.
Arsenal 1-1 Brentford, February 11 2023
Ivan Toney’s offside equaliser was allowed to stand despite a VAR review overseen by Lee Mason, who failed to spot Christian Norgaard standing in an offside position.
have fouled Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, ensuring West Ham’s late equaliser was disallowed.
Crystal Palace 3-1 Aston Villa, August 20 2022
Andy Madley changed his mind on a Crystal Palace penalty after consulting the pitchside monitor, despite Lucas Digne handling the ball.
