Exclusive - Ex-Referee Mark Halsey says officials made one big mistake in Liverpool v Spurs draw

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has written an exclusive column for Yahoo Sport following the controversial clash between Liverpool and Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday, and he believes referee Jonathan Moss and his officials made one big mistake in their three key decisions at the end of a thrilling 2-2 draw that saw them award two late penalties to the away team.

Jonathan Moss and his officials were right to award Tottenham two late penalties against Liverpool on Sunday – but I believe they got one big decision wrong at Anfield.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited have predictably come out and said that all the decisions were right in that game and they always say that, but I believe a mistake was made that was crucial to the outcome of that game.

Harry Kane was in an off-side position when Dele Alli played the ball through to him and despite the failed attempt of Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren to clear the ball, the Spurs forward should have been adjudged to be off-side when the ball eventually found its way through to him.

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Why did they get that decision wrong? Well, Lovren’s thought process was clearly affected by the presence of Kane behind him and thus, the Spurs striker becomes active was interfering with play and the opponent.

Kane was in an off-side position, as confirmed by assistant referee Eddie Smart in a conversation picked up between the match officials by TV microphones, and whatever impact Lovren had with his touch, the flag should have gone up when Alli’s through ball found its way through to him.

Only a deliberate attempt by a defender to play the ball would have been enough to allow Kane to be on side in that incident and while Lovren made that effort with his clearance, he only did so because of the presence of the Tottenham striker behind him.

You can hear from the discussion between the referee and his assistant that they were uncertain about the off-side call and if that uncertainty is there over Lovren’s role in the incident, then they should have given the off-side.

Overall, it was a difficult decision to make and while I think Kane should have been adjudged to be off-side, the law is an ass in that situation and we need clarification form the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) as there is clearly a degree of confusion there.

In addition, referee Moss should not have been asking for help from fourth official Martin Atkinson on the touchline, as he cannot get involved in the decision making process at that point. Asking for TV assistance in a Premier League game is not permitted at the moment and he should have known that asking for assistance was wrong.

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To their credit, the officials at Anfield got two difficult calls right as the challenge on Kane in the box by Liverpool keeper Loris Karius and the second penalty decision made by assistant official Smart were spot on in my view.

What a brave and outstanding call that was by the assistant official to halt the game in the 94th minute at The Kop end and inform the referee that he needed to award a penalty for Virgil van Dijk’s challenge on Erik Lamela.

It was a clear penalty and referee Moss bottled it for whatever reason. Maybe he had lost some of his focus by then after what had gone before with the first penalty incident, so to make that call and get it spot on was an outstanding piece of officiating by Smart.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp did not agree with the decisions and that may be because he didn’t fully appreciate why they had been made, but I would suggest that he only has one area to feel aggrieved about and that is the off-side call on Kane.

Mark Halsey is a former Premier League referee and works with You Are The Ref as senior referee coach.