Kane hits back at van Dijk’s dive claim, referee admits Spurs penalty question was a mistake

Tottenham striker Harry Kane has hit back at Virgil van Dijk’s claim he dived to win a penalty in Sunday’s dramatic 2-2 draw at Anfield.

Liverpool’s record signing said the England international went down too easily under pressure from goalkeeper Loris Karius for the first of two Spurs penalties.

“I think it is a dive. You see him (Kane) diving clearly and no one is talking about it but I think it is a dive,” said Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool from Southampton last month for £75 million ($106 million, 85 million euros).

Kane’s first spot-kick was saved but he converted a second deep into added time to salvage a point and reach 100 Premier League goals.

“He (Karius) has dived, he got in the way and I’m a player. I’m not going to jump out of the way because it’s football,” said Kane, denying Van Dijk’s accusation. “I definitely felt contact and I went down.”

Kane, like manager Mauricio Pochettino, praised the officials for having the strength of character to award two controversial penalties at Liverpool’s home ground.

Assistant referee Ed Smart flagged for a Van Dijk foul on Erik Lamela for the second penalty award after match official Jon Moss had waved play on.

“I thought the linesman showed amazing character to give (the second penalty) because a lot happened for the first one about the linesman so to give that penalty was massive – and it was a penalty,” added Kane.

The debate surrounding the first penalty centred on whether Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren had touched the ball on its way through to Kane, who would otherwise have been offside as he clashed with Karius.

Kane’s late strike brought up a century of Premier League goals in his 141st match.

Only Alan Shearer (124) reached the landmark more quickly and the Tottenham striker now has his sights set on the next 100, with Shearer’s all-time record of 260 still some way off.

“That has to be the aim – and hopefully quicker than I got to 100,” said the 24-year-old. “It is nice, I am going to enjoy the moment but let’s see how many I can get this year and go from there.”

Referee admits penalty question mistake

Meanwhile, referee Jon Moss has admitted he was misguided to ask the fourth official if he had seen a crucial penalty decision.

Moss gave Tottenham a late penalty at Anfield for a foul on Harry Kane by the home side’s goalkeeper Lorius Karius.

Kane was clearly in an offside position when the ball was passed to him but Lovren inadvertently played him on by getting a faint touch when he tried to hack it clear.

After Kane was brought down, Moss then spent several moments discussing with his linesman Eddie Smart whether the Tottenham striker was offside.

In their exchange, picked up by a pitch-side microphone, Smart is heard twice asking if Lovren touched the ball, as that would be a “deliberate action” and make Kane onside when he actually received the pass.

Moss twice tells Smart he does not know if Lovren touched it or not and is heard asking fourth official Martin Atkinson, via his headset, if he “got anything from TV”, only to almost immediately say “I’m giving the penalty” and point to the spot.

This prompted many observers at the game to wonder if this decision was effectively awarded by video review despite the Premier League not yet using the system.

That, however, has now been denied by the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMO), the body set up to provide, represent and train officials when they went professional in 2001.

In a statement, a PGMO spokesman explained Moss was in a “good position” to see that a Liverpool player had touched the ball before it reached Kane but “given the speed of the attack” was uncertain of who it was.

The spokesman said Smart saw Kane was offside so “correctly sought clarification” on whether Lovren had touched it.

“His question created some momentary confusion when Eddie asked if ‘Lovren’ had touched the ball,” the spokesman said. “Moss knew a Liverpool player had touched the ball but not that it was Lovren.

“He then asked a question to his fourth official Martin Atkinson and acknowledges that referencing ‘TV’ was misguided. Atkinson did not reply to the question and so had no involvement in the decision.

“Having properly reflected on the questions asked, Jon knew a Liverpool player, now identified as Lovren, had played the ball and that no offside offence had occurred. He then awarded the penalty.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Atkinson did not view a television monitor and did not relay any information to the on-field officials.”

Kane missed the penalty but converted another controversially awarded spot-kick in stoppage-time to give Spurs a 2-2 draw.

With AFP inputs