MATIP SLIP-UP A SICKENER

Last-gasp own goal thwarts 9-man Reds' resistance

- Tom HOPKINSON

TOTTENHAM 2 LIVERPOOL 1

JOEL MATIP'S stoppage-time own-goal handed Tottenham a dramatic victory against Liverpool.

But what was a rip-roaring game was decided by some dreadful officiating and not by the brilliance of the players on display.

First, VAR Darren England urged ref Simon Hooper to go to his monitor for another look at Curtis Jones's tackle on Yves Bissouma.

Hooper had shown Jones a harsh yellow, given he had made decent contact with the ball, and caught Bissouma through momentum not malice on the half-hour.

But he then defied logic by upgrading the booking to a red.

Hooper then cut Liverpool to nine late on as half-time substitute Diogo Jota caught Destiny Udogie with a silly tackle but was still a soft yellow card nonetheless.