Ange Postecoglou accepts Liverpool denied ‘legitimate goal’ by VAR error

Ange Postecoglou has defended referee Darren England after his part in the VAR controversy in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Liverpool (Lucy North/PA)

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has acknowledged Liverpool were denied a “legitimate goal” in last weekend’s match but defended VAR operator Darren England.

Spurs claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory over Liverpool last Saturday, but the result was mired in controversy after a Luis Diaz effort in the 34th-minute was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

The incident was reviewed but VAR operator England mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal and, after establishing Diaz had been onside, England told referee Simon Hooper “check complete” before Tottenham resumed the game with the score 0-0.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited subsequently admitted a “significant human error” occurred and released the audio this week, while on Wednesday Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stated a replay may be the best solution even though he admitted it was unlikely.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Luton, Postecoglou said: “The facts of it are that it was a legitimate goal Liverpool scored that wasn’t given.

“You kind of look at why it’s not given because that’s the first thing you question: obviously something has broken down.

“It became clear it wasn’t an integrity issue, it wasn’t a misappropriation of the law, it was an error in communication, a mistake, a mistake which cost Liverpool.

“I get that it’s an unusual one in that it’s never happened before, but at the same time we’re in a new space anyway with technology where I think they’ll be a lot of firsts with the way we deal with these things.”

The fallout from the incident has seen referee England reportedly