Premier League panel 'rules Jota should not have been sent off against Spurs'

The Premier League's Independent Key Match Incidents Panel have reportedly concluded that Liverpool's Diogo Jota was wrongly sent off in last weekend's 2-1 Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Portugal international started on the bench in North London, where Son Heung-min gave Tottenham the lead after Curtis Jones was sent for an early bath for a studs-up challenge on Yves Bissouma.

A couple of minutes before Son's opener, Luis Diaz found the side of the net with a low effort across goal, but the Colombian's strike was ruled out for offside by the linesman - a wrong decision that VAR horrendously failed to overturn.

Nevertheless, the 10-man Reds managed to claw their way back into the contest just before the break through Cody Gakpo, but the Dutchman succumbed to a knee injury immediately after scoring.

Gakpo - who sustained the issue in a challenge from Destiny Udogie - was replaced for the second half by Jota, who was only on the field for 24 minutes before also being sent to the naughty step.

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The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man was firstly cautioned in the 68th minute for tripping Udogie, who upon reflection appeared to clip his own heels, but Simon Hooper still saw fit to book Jota.

Only one moment after his first yellow card, Jota was robbed of possession by Udogie and scythed down the Italian left-back from behind again, leading to Liverpool's second dismissal of the match.

Jurgen Klopp's nine men almost held out for a draw in North London, but Tottenham's final attack of the game saw Joel Matip turn Pedro Porro's cross into his own net to condemn Spurs to an agonising defeat.

The fallout from Darren England and Dan Cook's VAR blunder over Diaz's goal has dominated the headlines in recent days, with the PGMOL admitting to a "significant human error" and even releasing audio from the officials' exchange during the incident.

However, Liverpool fans now have another reason to feel incandescent at the result, as ESPN claims that a Premier League panel have ruled that Jota should not have been given a red card.

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The five-strong panel - made up of three former players/coaches, one Premier League representative and one PGMOL official - apparently came to the conclusion that Jota's second foul on Udogie was not worthy of a yellow card.

Three members are said to have decided that Jota's second yellow was wrong, while two were in favour of his sending-off, but no assessments were made on Jota's first bookable offence owing to panel rules.

However, all five supposedly backed England's decision to send Hooper to the monitor for Jones's foul on Bissouma, which the on-field referee initially brandished a yellow card for before upgrading his punishment.

Liverpool failed with an appeal against Jones's dismissal, and the midfielder will begin a three-match domestic suspension against Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend, where Jota will serve a one-game ban.

The 26-year-old found the back of the net in Thursday's 2-0 Europa League win over Union SG, though, and Klopp praised his reaction to a difficult week.