VAR officials replaced after offside error in Liverpool defeat

Liverpool went down to nine men as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were sent off in the feisty clash, before an own goal by Joel Matip sealed a stoppage-time win for Spurs.

VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook have been replaced for two games following the controversies in the Liverpool-Tottenham clash on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) officials Darren England and Dan Cook have been replaced for two games this matchweek after Liverpool wrongly had a goal disallowed in its 2-1 Premier League defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Liverpool went down to nine men as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were sent off in the feisty clash before an own goal by Joel Matip sealed a stoppage-time win for Spurs.

The Merseyside club thought it had taken the lead in the first half through Luis Diaz who got behind the defence and fired into the bottom corner past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. However, the goal was ruled out by the referee for offside.

The referees’ body, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), later admitted it was the wrong decision to disallow Diaz’s effort, blaming human error, and “should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention”.

In a statement on Sunday, the PGMOL said: “Darren England, VAR on the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool fixture, and Dan Cook, (assistant VAR) on the same game, have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches today and tomorrow night respectively.

“Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as fourth official at the City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant referee at Craven Cottage.”