Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou explains why Liverpool are wrong to insist Lucas Bergvall deserved red card | OneFootball

Bergvall was not shown a second yellow despite bringing down Kostas Tsimikas with a mistimed challenge

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.

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.

“Great question - no he wasn’t, he wasn’t,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports when it was suggested Bergvall might have been lucky to stay on the pitch.

“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].

“We’ve been screaming for it for the last two months. It’s happened to us consistently, have a look at our games.

“We’ve asked the officials and they’ve said if you play advantage, as long as it’s not a cynical tackle, then the yellow card doesn’t get paid. To me that was pretty clear.”

Asked for his opinion on the incident, Liverpool boss Arne Slot said: "The decision he made had a lot of impact on the result tonight. There's not a lot I can say from that.

"The fourth official told me why he thought it wasn't a second yellow and he heard that probably from the referee.

“What we can say about it is that he said he didn't stop the counter attack, every manager would say they prefer the second yellow than a free-kick.”