Reports out of Merseyside today suggest the champions will launch a formal complaint against yesterday’s match referee Paul Tierney for blowing the half-time whistle a whole SIX SECONDS earlier than scheduled thus denying the home side a clear goalscoring opportunity.
And it remains to be seen whether Mr Tierney will be allowed to referee another Liverpool match for the rest of the season following the incident. The Football Association has received strong protests from Reds officials as well as random blokes on Twitter to get the official struck off the list and demoted to the National League.
Meanwhile, the man at the centre of the controversy has been unavailable for comment and was last seen being bungled into the boot of a top of the range Jaguar before being whisked off down the East Lancs Road.
Ex-United star and recently retired Wayne Rooney, distanced himself immediately from the incident with rumours suggesting that he was at the match in a scouting capacity for Derby County.
Rooney stated that he; “Sold his Jag around six months ago and got a lift to the match from his mum.”
Though manager Jurgen Klopp kept his cool in the post-match interview, sources close to the German tactician claim he was “seething” that the match official had blown up early with Sadio Mane through for what would have been a “certain goal”.
They also confirmed to club sources that he’s never really liked Tierney claiming that he; “Wasn’t the sort of guy you’d like to share a bratwurst with.”
And it’s understood that Klopp will set up an online petition to lobby parliament to get the six seconds replayed before the end of the season – with former Liverpool players quick to back the German gaffer’s campaign.
Ex-striker John Aldridge launched an attack on Twitter during the half-time interval claiming he’d never seen this happen before.
1989: John Aldridge (front) of Liverpool celebrates his second goal during the FA Cup Semi-Final against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.. Liverpool won the match 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Allsport UK /Allsport
Aldridge, of course, has never got over the fact that he was the first player to miss a penalty in an FA Cup Final back in 1988 and that this fact, along with his potty-mouthed tirade at the fourth official during the World Cup in 1994, is what he will be best remembered for.
And on some dodgy stream during the game, Michael Owen, who played for both clubs and still seems unsure about which one to support, claimed that referees nearly always wait for the ball to go dead before blowing for time.
This statement that was quickly shot down by his former United team-mate Paul Scholes who told him in no uncertain terms to shut up or he wouldn’t get a text when he meets up with Ferdinand and Hargreaves when the Champions League starts up again next month.
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