Liverpool’s visit to Tottenham was marred by a refereeing performance that had to be seen to be believed, and the referee in charge had been stood down on the opening day of the season.
Referee Simon Hooper was the match official for Saturday night’s contest, one that was one contentious decision after another.
Two red cards, to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota – two yellow cards, one was for the Spurs player tripping over himself – left the Reds to see the match out with nine men and they were only moments away from taking a 1-1 draw home before a heartbreaking own goal.
It was in spite of refereeing decisions from Hooper, who had zero control of proceedings – and it feels right to acknowledge that he was stood down after the opening game of the season.
Hooper was in charge at Old Trafford for Man United‘s 1-0 win over Wolves, when a penalty in the dying moments for the visitors was denied by the referee and the VAR officials.
UPDATE: PGMOL release statement admitting “significant human error”
Sasa Kalajdzic had won a header in the United penalty area when Andre Onana clattered into both him and Wolves team-mate Craig Dawson.
PGMOL’s Jon Moss issued a swift apology to Wolves manager Gary O’Neil, who was himself booked for his protests at the time, with the refereeing group then admitting it was a mistake.
Hooper was then stood down for the following weekend and was subsequently only handed VAR duties before only returning to the middle for Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa earlier this month.
It is the latest performance from an official that shines a bright spotlight on the failings in the Premier League, with Howard Webb having plenty to answer to.
Incompetent officials decide games and we saw that in north London on Saturday evening, Klopp will do will to keep a lid on any frustration in the aftermath.
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