Liverpool Endures Lacklustre Loss to Tottenham

Liverpool suffered a controversial 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, 8 January, with Reds coach, Arne Slot, questioning a key refereeing decision.

The match-deciding goal came in the 86th minute from the hosts’ Lucas Bergvall, who had tripped Kostas Tsimikas just moments earlier. Referee Stuart Attwell allowed play to continue, denying both the visitors the free kick and a potential second yellow card for Bergvall.

In a post-game conference, Slot criticised the decision, saying: “[That] decision had a lot of impact on the result tonight … what we can say about it is that [Attwell] said he didn’t stop the counter-attack, every manager would say they prefer the second yellow than a free kick.”

Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk, also expressed frustration, calling the lack of a second yellow “a mistake”.

Spurs coach, Ange Postecoglou, defended the call: “It’s happened to us consistently, you look at our games, and we’ve asked the officials and they’ve said if you play advantage – as long as it’s not a cynical tackle – then [a] yellow card doesn’t get shown.”

With the narrow loss, Liverpool must overturn the deficit in the return leg at Anfield in England on 6 February.

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