Liverpool to "explore options" after VAR error

Liverpool have said that they will consider a "range of options" after Luis Diaz's goal was wrongly disallowed in Saturday's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Reds suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday after a late Joel Matip own goal gifted Spurs a 2-1 victory.

However, the contest was overshadowed by refereeing decisions as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota both received red cards, while Diaz saw his first-half strike chalked off following a VAR review.

Replays appeared to show that Diaz was level with Cristian Romero, before racing onto Mohamed Salah's through ball and slotting home when the contest was still goalless.

The PGMOL admitted after the game that the first-half strike had been wrongly disallowed due to "significant human error".

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A further report has claimed that the officials on VAR duty confirmed the goal was onside, but failed to realise that the original decision was to disallow the goal.

Believing that the goal had been given, Darren England and his VAR assistant Dan Cook told referee Simon Hooper that the check was complete, which resulted in play being resumed with a free kick in Totteham's half.

After the PGMOL admitted their error, Liverpool released a statement on Sunday night to address the controversy.

The statement read: "Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL's admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.

"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.

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"It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.

"That such failings have already been categorised as 'significant human error' is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.

"This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.

"In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution."

Liverpool will try to refocus for Thursday's home meeting with Belgian side Union-Saint Gilloise in the Europa League group stage.