Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou explains why Liverpool are wrong to insist Lucas Bergvall deserved red card
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Ange Postecoglou has insisted Lucas Bergvall rightfully avoided a second yellow card before scoring the winner in Tottenham’s narrow Carabao Cup win over Liverpool. The midfielder struck in the 86th minute to earn Spurs a 1-0 victory in the first leg of the semi-final tie, ensuring they will take a slender advantage to Anfield for the return fixture next month.
However, Liverpool were adamant Bergvall should not have been on the pitch at that point, having slid in just a couple of minutes earlier to bring Kostas Tsimikas down as the left-back tried to break. Bergvall was already on a yellow card at that point, but the referee played advantage and decided not to go back and book the 18-year-old, despite Liverpool’s complaints.
Tsimikas required treatment and was then off the pitch as Bergvall swept a first-time finish into the bottom corner for the only goal of the match. Virgil van Dijk called it a “quite obvious” mistake from referee Stuart Attwell, but Postecoglou claimed after the match that the rules had been correctly applied.
“The rule is - and we’ve been told for quite a while now - that if advantage gets played, as long as it’s not a cynical tackle the yellow card does not [get shown],” he told Sky Sports. “We’ve been screaming for it for the last two months. It’s happened to us consistently, have a look at our games.
