Rafa Benitez has stated that Liverpool forward Diogo Jota had ‘no bad intentions’ to hurt Oliver Skipp following his high boot to the face of the Tottenham midfielder on Sunday at Anfield.
The likes of Tottenham’s stand-in coach Ryan Mason were fuming on the touchline at that challenge because he felt it was a clear red card – he made it clear that it was ‘dangerous play’.
Instead, the Liverpool substitute, who would go on and rub salt into the wounds, ended up scoring the winning goal in the most dramatic of circumstances after Richarlison thought he had equalised for his side after going 3-0 down.
Diogo Jota himself, after the game, spoke about the incident. He made his feelings pretty clear on Skipp.
Those in the Tottenham court are still fuming that Jota wasn’t sent off, but he was defended by a Reds legend for his actions, as he told Premier League Productions (30/04/23 at 6:40 pm).
“I think he was very clear,” said Benitez. “I think he was trying to play the ball. I think he was unlucky. It wasn’t bad intentions.”
LIVERPOOL AND TOTTENHAM PLAY OUT CLASSIC
After 15 minutes, it might have been deja Vu again and Spurs facing the possibility of another thumping, after going 5-0 down inside 20 minutes against Newcastle United.
But with ten minutes left on the clock, the whole mood inside Anfield had changed. Richarlison was on the pitch and he wanted to do the unthinkable.
He did the unthinkable and scored his first Premier League goal for Spurs against Liverpool, only for Jota to produce his very own Stan Collymore moment.
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