Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Ryan Mason has blasted the decision not to send off Liverpool attacker Diogo Jota in the Lilywhites' enthralling 4-3 loss at Anfield on Sunday.
One week on from their embarrassing 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United, Tottenham were heading down a similar path at Anfield as Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah put the Reds three goals to the good in a 15-minute flurry.
Several Spurs fans began to head for the exits as their side were overwhelmed, but Harry Kane pulled one back for the North London outfit before the end of the first half to give his side a flicker of hope.
Following a sustained period of second-half pressure, Tottenham cut the deficit down to one goal through Son Heung-min before Richarlison appeared to have rescued a point in the most dramatic of circumstances.
However, a mistake from Lucas Moura set Jota on his way to propel Liverpool back into the lead only a couple of minutes after Richarlison's added-time effort, rendering Spurs' valiant fightback meaningless.
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Prior to scoring his last-gasp winner, Jota controversially escaped a red card after catching Oliver Skipp in the head with a high boot, drawing blood from the Tottenham man in the process, as neither Paul Tierney nor VAR official David Coote saw reason to take further action.
An incensed Mason demanded an explanation from the officials in his post-game press conference, claiming that Jota should not have been on the pitch when he picked out the bottom corner.
"I would like an explanation and a reason why it wasn't. I can understand referees and officials on the pitch missing it even though my feeling was an instant red card because when your foot is studs showing and you're five and a half feet off the ground and make contact with a player's head and draw blood, and there is a gash, I think it ticks all the boxes," football.london quotes Mason as saying.
"Probably more so an experienced referee in the VAR room, you want him to help the official on the pitch in that moment. Listen, it's decided the game because that player on the pitch shouldn't have been on there at the end decided the game. I'm pretty sure most football people's opinions will probably feel the same.
"I felt like we didn't get that decision, it was a big decision, a crucial decision and one you can't really miss. I find it hard and impossible to really understand why.
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"Of course we're just so disappointed because we came here today and created so many chances. On another day we win it with ease in the way we played today but the Premier League's relentless, you have to be ready every single game to fight and we helped Liverpool today.
"It is hard to put into words to be perfectly honest. How the game went and obviously equalising at the end, fully deserved. To gift them the winner at the end is impossible to take at this minute."
On the other side of the coin, Skipp was arguably fortunate to avoid being sent for an early bath for a crunching studs-up challenge to the ankle of Diaz, who was making his first start for Liverpool since his serious knee injury in October.
Now winless in four successive matches in all competitions, Tottenham have been bumped down to sixth place in the Premier League table and are nine points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who have two games in hand.
Next up for the Lilywhites is a return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a London derby with Crystal Palace on Saturday.
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