Arne Slot’s Liverpool travelled to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday evening in search of all three points and did just that with an emphatic 6-3 victory. Fans are confused, however, after hearing Mike Dean’s comments on Lucas Bergvall’s foul.
In the nine-goal thriller, Luis Diaz fired the Merseysiders in front before Alexis Mac Allister also headed home past Fraser Forster. Giving Spurs a glimmer of hope, James Maddison picked his spot and dispatched a lovely finish into the bottom corner to halve the deficit.
Liverpool then regained their two-goal cushion through Dominik Szoboszlai before Mohamed Salah then added two goals to his tally. Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke then netted for the hosts before Diaz grabbed his second of the game to make it 6-3.
In the 91st minute and with the scoreline settled in north London, Tottenham midfielder Bergvall – who was signed from Swedish Allsvenskan side Djurgarden in the summer – prevented the Reds from launching a counterattack by pulling back Curtis Jones roughly 12 minutes after receiving a yellow card for impeding Diogo Jota.
The Swedish youngster, who replaced Pape Matar Sarr in the 58th minute, walked away unscathed despite referee Samuel Barrott calling for a foul and a resulting Liverpool free-kick in the host’s own half.
Bemused as to why Bergvall, 18, was not given his marching orders on home soil, Gary Neville leaned on the expertise of the aforementioned Dean by asking: “Why is that not a yellow card? It’s an obvious [foul] – why is not a yellow card there?”
Promptly replying to the defender-turned-pundit’s query, Dean – who officiated in the English top flight between 2000 and 2022 – claimed that, due to a) it being so late on and b) the score, Barrot made the correct decision by not issuing Bergvall his first red card of his career.
“I think, in isolation, it’s a yellow card Gary. But I think the way the game’s gone, I don’t think it warrants a second yellow card for me. It’s just a little tiny pull. He’s not stopped anything promising as he’s in his own third of the field. So, it’s good refereeing for me.”
Fans have taken to X (formerly Twitter) in the wake of the former official’s remarks that Barrott was correct in not awarding the 18-year-old his second yellow of the affair to suggest that the Premier League rules on what is and isn’t a yellow card are being re-written on a week-by-week basis.
“Mike Dean: In isolation it’s a yellow card but doesn’t warrant a second yellow card. Rewriting the rules again this week.”
If Bergvall received a second yellow, like many – including Neville – believed he should have, Tottenham’s upcoming opponents in Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers would have benefited, one supporter pointed out.
“Mike Dean saying that’s not a second yellow because the game is done,” they said before adding: “These reds and how they think of football is completely wrong. It’s a second yellow, it affects the team Spurs play next.”
