Liverpool's Disallowed Goal vs. Tottenham Was 'Significant Human Error,' PGMOL Says

Professional Game Match Officials Limited, which is the body that officiates major English soccer matches, admitted that officials erred in disallowing a Liverpool goal during their 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Per BBC Sport's Simon Stone, PGMOL released the following statement regarding the mistake:

"PGMOL acknowledge significant human error during Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool. The goal by Luis Díaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene. PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error."

In the 34th minute of the match, Luis Díaz took a pass from Mohamed Salah and scored, but it was immediately negated by an offside call:

Per ESPN's Dale Johnson, VAR official Darren England subsequently checked on the decision, but it was a quick review during which no offside lines were shown on the screen.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp gave his viewpoint on the call that took away what would have been a 1-0 lead, saying the "pictures confirm" that it should have been a goal:

According to Johnson, Klopp went on to add: "Nobody expects 100 percent correct decisions, but when VAR comes in, it should become easier. The decision was made really quick and it changed the momentum of the game."

Per Football.London's Alasdair Gold, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou countered by suggesting that inaccurate calls are part of the game, saying: "No form of technology is going to make the game errorless. The game is littered with historical refereeing decisions that weren't right. People think VAR is going to be errorless, but there's so little in the game that is factual."

Making the offsides call even more devastating for Liverpool was the fact that Curtis Jones was shown a red card in the 26th minute, forcing the Reds to play most of the match down a man.

Just two minutes after the disallowed goal, Tottenham took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Son Heung-min in the 36th minute.

Liverpool equalized with a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the first half by Cody Gakpo, but Diogo Jota was shown a red card in the 69th minute, putting the Reds down two men.

Although Liverpool nearly overcame the adversity and secured a draw, an own goal by Joël Matip in the 96th minute was the difference for Tottenham.

Liverpool were two points ahead of Tottenham in the English Premier League standings entering the day, but Tottenham jumped into second place with 17 points thanks to the win, putting them just one point behind Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Liverpool sit in fourth with 16 points and must wait until next Sunday to get back on track in their EPL campaign when they face Brighton.