Tottenham's acting head coach Ryan Mason was left fuming that Diogo Jota was still on the pitch to score Liverpool's dramatic 94th-minute winner in a seven-goal thriller at Anfield.
Richarlison thought he had earned Spurs a point when he scored a mere minute earlier before Jota latched onto a horrific misplaced pass from Lucas Moura to put Liverpool back in front. It was the telling final blow as Jurgen Klopp's side won the game 4-3, but Mason was furious that Jota had not been sent off earlier in the game.
In the 81st minute, there was an incident where Spurs midfielder Oliver Skipp went to head the ball and Jota flew in with a high boot. The forward's boot proceeded to catch Skipp in the side of the head, with the midfielder left with a nasty cut above his eye.
He ended up getting replaced by Richarlison and Jota escaped with just a yellow card. Speaking after the match, Mason insisted Jota should have seen red for the challenge, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "Honestly, it's probably the clearest red card you will see on the football pitch.
"I need an explanation. It endangered the opponent, Skipp needs stitches and Jota has scored the goal when he shouldn't be on the pitch."
In his post-match press conference, Mason went on to demand an explanation from PGMOL as to why Jota was only shown a yellow card. He added: "I'd like an explanation why it wasn't a red card.
"It was an instant red card. When you show studs, draw blood and create a gash, it ticks all the boxes. Listen, it's decided the game because that player shouldn't have been on the pitch."
And former Liverpool midfielders Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness were both in agreement with Mason. "I think it's a red card, you're endangering an opponent, that's the letter of the law," Redknapp told Sky Sports.
"And to compound it, that man actually scores the winning goal. So you can understand why he’s furious about that one. You can see it's a nasty challenge. He's not that sort of player, he doesn't mean to hurt anybody but when you put your foot that high… you can see it's a nasty gash as well. For me, that's a red card."
Souness then added: "That's a red card. Jota's not that type of player but he's knocked off for a brief moment and he's gone for the ball showing six points. He's got to go for that."
