Ex-Ref Mark Clattenburg Claims Both Tottenham Penalties Were Wrongly Awarded

The former referee has his say over the controversial Liverpool-Tottenham match.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has claimed that both of the penalties awarded to Tottenham in Sunday's controversial draw to Liverpool should not have been. 

Spurs were awarded their first penalty in the 87th minute, when Karius was adjudged to have brought down Harry Kane. Kane's subsequent effort was saved by the German stopper and Liverpool looked to have won it when Salah struck late on. 

More controversy then ensued, however, when, after deliberating with his linesman, referee John Moss awarded Tottenham their second penalty of the game seconds from time, which Kane scored to rescue a point for his side. 

Regarding the first penalty incident, Clattenburg wrote in the Times: "It shouldn’t have been a penalty because it was offside, but Kane didn’t dive. Loris Karius just caught him — there wasn’t much contact but there was some — and the Liverpool goalkeeper’s reaction says it all. 

"He immediately put his head to the turf. He knew he’d made a terrible error. If there had been no contact he’d have leapt up immediately and accused Kane of cheating."

Regarding Moss' call to award the second penalty, Clattenburg wrote: "This a tough decision. I believe that there is a suspicion of offside in the build up to the penalty. The ball is touched by Fernando Llorente and into Érik Lamela, who is fractionally offside in my opinion.

"As we have seen with VAR now, offside is a matter of fact and no benefit is given to the attacking team. Therefore, the penalty should not have been allowed. 

"Once the offside is missed, It looks as though Virgil van Dijk goes to kick the ball and then tries to pull away his leg, but there is a still a bit of contact. It is a soft penalty, but not definitely a wrong call.

"I can see why Moss didn’t originally give it and I was surprised Smart flagged it as a penalty. It is rare and very brave for an assistant referee to do that when it seemed like a 50-50 call. 

"In that situation, I would have wanted some discussion and for the assistant to tell me what he had seen," Clattenburg revealed. 

"I would then make a decision. Once the assistant’s flag has gone up, Moss is bound to give it as he has got to publicly support his colleague."