Bentancur recovers in hospital after freak injury in Spurs’ beating of Liverpool
LONDON: Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was conscious and recovering in hospital after a freak injury early in their 1-0 League Cup semi-final first-leg victory over Liverpool in north London.
The Uruguayan attempted to put his head on a corner early on but appeared to twist awkwardly and hit the ground in obvious distress. After nearly 10 minutes of treatment on the pitch he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Manager Ange Postecoglou said: “I don’t want to speculate. Obviously it was some sort of head injury but he was conscious when he was coming off the field. He’s been taken to the hospital for observation. But I’m not really clear on how it happened but it was a head injury and there was concern from players out there so obviously there was something going on.”
Bentancur recently returned from a seven-match domestic ban after making inappropriate remarks about Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min during a TV interview in Uruguay.
Injury-battered Spurs won with a second-half goal from their man of the match, Sweden midfielder Lucas Bergvall.
Yet he should not even have been on the pitch according to Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
The 18-year-old had already been booked in the 68th minute by referee Stuart Attwell and escaped a second yellow for a mistimed tackle on Kostas Tsimikas moments before sealing a 1-0 win for his team.
Liverpool were incensed, especially as Tsimikas was still off the field when Bergvall thumped his shot past Alisson.
Van Dijk said: “I think it was quite obvious it was going to be a second yellow. I think it was pretty clear. It was a coincidence and a minute later he scores the winner. It is what it is. The referee made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that.
“Everyone on the sidelines knew it was supposed to be a yellow. There’s a linesman there, a fourth official there, there’s VAR, a referee and he doesn’t get a second yellow.”
Liverpool’s defeawas only their second since manager Arne Slot took charge and defeat ended a 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions, although the holders still have next month’s second leg at Anfield to turn things around.
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