Question Number: 32213

Law 11 - Offside 2/5/2018

RE: Red Adult

Russell of Sydney, Australia asks...

Keen to hear the panels thoughts on the key match incidents of the recent Liverpool v Spurs match.

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2018/02/04/liverpool-vs-tottenham-hotspur-highlights-2/

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Russell
The first key decision was the Kane *offside*. As Lovren of Liverpool deliberately swung his leg to play the ball (which he did play albeit very poorly) then it was a reset and Kane could not be called offside. Whether it was a penalty of not I felt that once the goalkeeper failed to play the ball then he was always going to go into Kane's path resulting in a take down of Kane for a penalty kick. Some put forward the argument as to whether Kane could have stayed up or hurdled the goalkeeper? That is a moot point as there is no onus on Kane to do so. The same type of incident played out in the recent Watford v Chelsea penalty decision. In summary all 100% correct decisions in my opinion.
On the second penalty decision it was clearly shown that Van Dijk Liverpool kicked Lamela on the back of the knee in the penalty area. I suspect Lamela made the most of it it yet it was a clumsy attempt to play the ball. It would be a foul anywhere else on the field of play.
So for me all the decisions were correct.