Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has revealed John Moss was correct to award Tottenham’s first penalty against Liverpool as Harry Kane was indeed onside.
In a statement, PGMOL said: “Jon Moss was in a good position to see that a Liverpool player deliberately played the ball before it fell to Harry Kane in the penalty area. He then correctly judged that Kane was fouled by Lorius Karius.
“However, given the speed of the attack, he was uncertain of the identity of the Liverpool player who kicked the ball. Eddie Smart, having identified that Kane was in an offside position, correctly sought clarification on whether Dejan Lovren had deliberately played the ball.
“He then asked a question to his fourth official Martin Atkinson and acknowledges that referencing ‘TV’ was misguided. Atkinson did not reply to the question and so had no involvement in the decision.
“Having properly reflected on the questions asked, Jon knew that a Liverpool player, now identified as Lovren, had played the ball and that no offside offence had occurred. He then awarded the penalty.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Atkinson did not view a television monitor and did not relay any information to the on-field officials.
“In real time this was a difficult series of decisions, which the match officials judged correctly in recognising that Kane was not offside, as Lovren had deliberately played the ball, and he was fouled for the award of the penalty kick.
“The interpretation of ‘deliberately’ kicking a ball considers whether a player has intentionally tried to kick a ball – it does not consider whether the ball ends up where a player may have wanted to kick it.”
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher also weighed in with his perspective, which you can watch here.
