During the chaotic game against Tottenham, Liverpool went down to nine men with both dismissals harsh, and Jurgen Klopp wasn’t pleased with the decisions.
While Luis Diaz‘s incorrectly ruled-out goal may take the headlines, the officiating team’s decisions to send off Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were also controversial.
In the second half, Liverpool were reduced to nine players when Jota was dismissed, for a second yellow in the space of two minutes.
The manager reacted, saying he “will never understand” the sending-off. “The two situations; the first I think is clear not a yellow,” the boss said.
“The second I didn’t see actually back but it’s not important. If the first is not a yellow then we still play with 10 men.”
The German called this one correctly. Jota’s first booking was a mistake as he was penalised despite Destiny Udogie appearing to trip himself up.
The second booking was undoubtedly stupid by the Portuguese but, as Klopp said, “if the first is not a yellow then we still play with 10 men.”
The forward will now miss Liverpool’s trip to Brighton next Sunday.
In the first half, Jones was originally given a yellow card for his tackle on Yves Bissouma but, after being shown a still image of the tackle, referee Simon Hooper changed his mind and awarded a red.
By the letter of the law, it probably was a red card but, for those like Klopp who have played the game, it seemed harsh.
The manager said: “Probably everybody here in the [press] room thinks it’s a clear red card, I see that different just because I played football and most of you probably didn’t.”
“Full power on the ball, rolls over the ball, then hits the decisive part of the leg. When you see it in slow motion it looks horrendous. I think when you see it in real time it’s not even close to being that bad.”
Curtis Jones is set to miss the following three fixtures through suspension:
- Brighton (A) – Sunday, October 8
- Everton (H) – Saturday, October 21
- Nottingham Forest (H) – Sunday, October 29
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