Ange Postecoglou has explained why he believes Liverpool's call for Lucas Bergvall to be sent off is unfounded in the wake of his side Tottenham's 1-0 win in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
The Swedish star was shown a yellow card in the first half for a sliding challenge on Luis Diaz, although replays appeared to suggest the Liverpool star went down with minimal contact.
But late in the second half, Bergvall looked to be at fault again when he deflected Kostas Tsimikas.
Referee Stuart Attwell's yellow card remained in his pocket and the hosts were able to reap the rewards of his decision when Bergvall found the back of the net moments later to claim the winner.
A goal was all it took to give Tottenham the crucial lead going into the second leg at Anfield in February.
Virgil van Dijk was among the Liverpool players who swarmed Attwell after the final whistle to discuss his decision, but in his comments at full-time Postecoglou was unfazed and dismissed the idea that his team had been lucky not to leave the 18-year-old club to lose. old.
“He didn't have that (lucky to be on the field),” Postecoglou said. People misinterpreted my comments the other day.
'The rule is, and we have been told for some time, that if an advantage is played, the yellow card (is not given) as long as it is not a cynical tackle.
“We've been clamoring for it for the past two months. It has happened to us regularly, just look at our games.
'We asked the referees and they said: if you play an advantage and it is not a cynical tackle, then the yellow card will not be played. That was pretty clear to me.
“Those are the rules and we have stuck to them for the past six weeks.”
However, online commentators were quick to point out that Bergvall's challenge could be classified as reckless, which could have been given a yellow card under similar circumstances.
Postecoglou was also wrong when Attwell played the advantage as the referee instead said that no foul had been given and that no advantage was applied to a second yellow card except in the case of an immediate chance.
Unlike his counterpart, Arne Slot completely disagreed. The Liverpool manager referred to how Postecoglou days earlier was outraged by decisions that appeared to go against them when he faced Newcastle.
“I don't think there is any discussion about that,” Slot said. 'I think I saw Ange here on Sunday and Spurs weren't happy with a few decisions. One went against them, tonight maybe one for them.
'The decisions have been made, you can't change them. When he didn't give the second yellow card, no one would have thought it would have such a big impact thirty seconds later.
'I'm 99.9 percent sure I wasn't the only one who didn't feel optimal when the ball went in. It was also far from ideal for him (the referee).'
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