Klopp’s fury at referee Paul Tierney: Should Kane have been sent off against Liverpool?

Jurgen Klopp was left frustrated with referee Paul Tierney in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. How have some reacted to the referee’s officiating of the crucial clash?

Liverpool and Tottenham thrilled all with an amazing, all-action packed, top-six Premier League encounter; there was drama, excitement, and lots of controversies that led to the game ending with the score even and Manchester City three points clear at the summit of the EPL table.

Spurs meanwhile stay in seventh place in the standings and enjoy a point on their return to action, missing the last two weeks of English top-flight football — their last game — a 3-0 win against Norwich City back on the 5th of December.

Referee Paul Tierney was at the centre of it all

The Reds went down to 10 men in the Premier League for the first time in two years when match official, Paul Tierney, gave Andy Robertson his marching order for a lashing-out challenge on Emerson Royal in the 78th minute of the game.

This red card, totally justified but, the consistency of the ref was nowhere to be found on the night, with an earlier incident involving the same player Robertson and Harry Kane — this time Robbo being on the wrong end of a terrible tackle by Kane — but the latter only receiving a yellow card and no review.

The image in the tweet below displays both incidents and only one offence was a sending off; Tottenham 2-2 Liverpool:

This left Klopp bemused and screaming, almost roaring at Tierney after the game. Sadly, this was not the only call debated on the night with a penalty shout on Diogo Jota, as early in the first half of the match, going against the visitors.

None of Liverpool’s judgements were called back to the main official and for him to check the monitor. Klopp made his feelings heard throughout and stood firm on his thoughts after the game, that the ref missed a clear red card call.

Jurgen Klopp after the Spurs and Liverpool stalemate:

The reactions on social media had former English referee, Mark Clattenburg, comment on the matter:

"It was worthy of a red, but then Kane’s indiscretion earlier in the game was worse. Where’s the consistency? How can VAR tell Tierney to go look at this incident but not the one involving Kane?"

David Ornstein Football Correspondent of the Athletic UK stated gave insight as to why they were both not gifted red cards:

"The main reason for the VAR not punishing Harry Kane more was that Andy Robertson was jumping when fouled — meaning the England captain did not catch him as badly as Robertson did Royal.Klopp said after the game that if Robertson’s foot had been planted, Kane could have broken his leg but because that is hypothetical, the officials were comfortable with their decision. They did feel, however, that the force of Robertson’s challenge on Royal endangered the Brazilian’s safety."

In conclusion

Yes, Harry Kane had to see a red card for his challenge on Robbo, as was the decision to give the latter a red totally correct as well — with the tackle being dangerous and reckless.

Consistency is needed and a clear statement is needed from the man himself: Paul Tierney. It would be great to see and hear from his side what went on his mind during these moments of madness.

Was the event too big for the officials, main and VAR? The clubs who were favoured the most from this is not even Spurs. No, in fact, it is actually Manchester City and Chelsea. The former trying to pull away from the rest of the pack while the latter is trying to catch and keep up with Liverpool.

Check out all the reactions on Twitter here.