Referees’ Governing Body Admits ‘Significant Human Error’ after Liverpool’s 2-1 Loss at Tottenham

Liverpool's Portuguese striker #20 Diogo Jota reacts as he received a red card from referee Simon Hooper during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 30, 2023. (AFP)
Liverpool's Portuguese striker #20 Diogo Jota reacts as he received a red card from referee Simon Hooper during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 30, 2023. (AFP)
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Referees’ Governing Body Admits ‘Significant Human Error’ after Liverpool’s 2-1 Loss at Tottenham

Liverpool's Portuguese striker #20 Diogo Jota reacts as he received a red card from referee Simon Hooper during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 30, 2023. (AFP)
Liverpool's Portuguese striker #20 Diogo Jota reacts as he received a red card from referee Simon Hooper during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 30, 2023. (AFP)

The referees’ governing body in England admitted a “significant human error” after Luis Diaz had a goal ruled offside in Liverpool’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.

Diaz struck what he thought was a 34th-minute goal in the match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, only for it to be ruled out.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) later admitted the mistake.

“The goal by Luiz Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials,” it said in a statement. “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.”

The PGMOL said it would conduct a full review into the matter.

That does not help Liverpool after it missed the chance to move to the top of the table following Manchester City’s surprising 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton earlier Saturday.

“We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100% right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said.

Joel Matip's own-goal deep into stoppage time handed Tottenham the win in a game that also saw Liverpool reduced to nine men.

Liverpool looked set to hold on for a draw before Matip turned Pedro Porro's low cross into his own net in the sixth minute of added-on time.

The visitors had Curtis Jones sent off in the 26th minute for a reckless challenge on Yves Bissouma and had to play the last 20 minutes, plus stoppage time, with nine men after substitute Diogo Jota picked up two yellow cards in quick succession.

Liverpool would have gone top of the standings with a win. Tottenham moves up to second, overtaking the Merseyside club.

Jones was shown a red card after a VAR review. He was initially given a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper after he caught Bissouma late in a tackle but it was upgraded after the official consulted the pitchside monitor.

Replays showed Jones had gone over the ball and connected with his studs into Bissouma’s shin, which resulted in VAR calling for a review.

Tottenham opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Son Heung-min. Maddison played through Richarlison on the left and he squared for Son to tap home for his sixth goal of the season.

Two minutes earlier, the offside flag denied Liverpool when Diaz rifled into the bottom corner, but was ruled to be marginally offside.

Liverpool hit back in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time when Virgil van Dijk’s header across goal was controlled by Cody Gakpo, who turned and fired past Guglielmo Vicario.

Gakpo had been down moments earlier after he was caught by Destiny Udogie and appeared in pain following the goal, but was eventually fine to carry on.

Liverpool was dealt another blow when Jota was sent off. He was cautioned by Hooper for a late tackle on Udogie in the 68th minute and within 120 seconds had received another yellow card for catching Udogie again.

Despite Liverpool being down to nine, Tottenham initially made little impact against a compact defense — Richarlison headed straight at goalkeeper Alisson early in added time — and Liverpool had chances to find a winning goal on the counter before Matip's own-goal decided the game.



Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush is the man of the moment in the Bundesliga after a blistering start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marmoush denied Bayern Munich a win in a thrilling game Sunday with a stoppage-time equalizer that made it 3-3. It was his second goal of the game. He also set up the other for Hugo Ekitiké, when he ran clear of Dayot Upamecano on a counterattack.

"Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. "What he did for Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past Upa with strength, no one did that before for the whole season.

"And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast."

Marmoush has been stealing the attention from Bayern star Harry Kane, who failed to score Sunday and has five goals from six Bundesliga games this season.

Marmoush, who has now scored in five games straight, has eight, while he has also set up another six for his Frankfurt teammates.

"We’re like a family," he said. "You see that on the field, when we’re celebrating, the ones who didn’t play (join), we celebrate as a team."

Marmoush appears to have made a jump in performance since last season, when he scored 12 goals and set up nine in his 29 Bundesliga appearances.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller said he had made a "little deal" before the season with Marmoush, but wouldn’t reveal what it is.

"I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end," Toppmöller said. "And you can see that in this fantastic season."

The 25-year-old Marmoush is the latest in a long line of forwards who have excelled at Frankfurt, after Randal Kolo Muani, Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Marmoush has had to be patient, working his way through at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Stuttgart after joining the former from Cairo-based Wadi Degla SC in 2017.

It’s only since he joined Frankfurt in 2023 that the tireless attacker has added goals to his repertoire.

On Sunday, he combined well with Ekitiké, while Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe headed the ball into his path for Marmoush's second goal.

"When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection," Ekitiké said. "Today he had two goals, one assist, So, yeah, he helped the team a lot."

Marmoush’s transformation into a goal-getter is good news for Egypt, which struggled for them without the injured Mohamed Salah at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Marmoush only scored one as the seven-time champion lost on penalties to Congo in the round of 16.

Next up for Frankfurt is a visit to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.