A furious Arne Slot was left raging when Lucas Bergvall escaped a second yellow card to score Tottenham’s winner in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool.
Reds boss Slot was incensed on the touchline when Bergvall, already on a booking, scythed down Kostas Tsimikas in the build-up to the goal but escaped further punishment.
‘I don’t think there’s any debate about it,’ said Slot. ‘I think I saw Ange sitting here on Saturday and Spurs weren’t happy with a few decisions.
‘One went against them, tonight maybe one went in favour of them.
‘The decisions is made, you can’t change it. When he didn’t give the second yellow card, no one thought it would have such a big impact 30 seconds later.
‘I am 99.9 per cent certain I was not the only one who didn’t feel the best when it went in. It was, for him [the referee] also far from ideal.’
Liverpool were left fuming after Lucas Bergvall escaped a second yellow card for Tottenham
The Swede was booked in the first half by referee Stuart Attwell for a challenge on Luis Diaz
Moments after his foul on Tsimikas – which wasn’t punished – Bergvall netted Spurs’ winner
Before Bergvall’s contentious intervention, the two sides had played out a tight encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it looked set to end goalless after Dominic Solanke saw a goal ruled out for offside midway through the second half.
Yet, in the 86th minute Bergvall finished superbly following good work from the tireless Solanke to net his first goal for Spurs.
After being booked in the first half for a sliding challenge on Luis Diaz – although replays suggested the Colombian went down with minimal contact – Bergvall had taken Tsimikas out with another sliding tackle in the second period.
However, Stuart Attwell didn’t show Bergvall a second yellow card, with the 18-year-old’s goal coming moments after the tackle.
To add insult to injury, Tsimikas was off the pitch waiting to come back on due to the challenge when the Swede netted, with the Reds temporarily down to 10 men.
The Liverpool bench were left fuming, with one member of the coaching staff receiving a yellow card from Attwell for his protests, while Arne Slot was seen remonstrating with the fourth official.
Reds captain Virgil van Dijk also took his ire out on the officials post-match and claimed they must do better.
‘I think it was quite obvious it was going to be a second yellow (for Lucas Bergvall),’ he added.
To make matters worse, Tsimikas was off the pitch when Bergvall scored due to the challenge
Reds boss Arne Slot was left fuming after the match and claimed the officials made a mistake
‘I think it was pretty clear. It was a coincidence and a minute later he scores the winner.
‘It is what it is. He (the referee) made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that. He thinks he didn’t but it was quite obvious I think and everyone on the sidelines knew it was supposed to be a yellow.
‘There’s a linesman there, a fourth official there, there’s VAR, a referee and he doesn’t get a second yellow. I’m not saying this is the reason why we lost tonight but it was a big moment in the game.’
Speaking in the Sky Sports studio, Michael Dawson and Jamie Redknapp agreed with the Liverpool pair and were adamant that Spurs had got away with one.
‘Stuart Attwell puts himself in a position as I don’t think the first one is a yellow card with the one on Luis Diaz,’ Dawson said.
‘The one thing I would say with Bergvall is that he gives Stuart Attwell an opportunity and a decision to make. Stuart Attwell got that first one wrong, I don’t think it was a yellow card.
‘The second one, I have no defence for Bergvall, he lunges and catches Tsimikas. If he gets one right and one wrong, you can’t even it up.
‘Liverpool are punished off the back of that as a few moments later the ball is in the back of the net.
Bergvall’s finish was superb as the 18-year-old Swede netted his first goal for Tottenham
Michael Dawson and Jamie Redknapp both agreed that Liverpool had been hard done by
However, Spurs boss Postecoglou was adamant that the correct decision had been made