Keith Hackett insists Tottenham Hotspur defender Souza was lucky to avoid being cautioned in Tottenham’s draw with Liverpool at Anfield.
Richarlison earned Spurs a potentially crucial point late on in Sunday’s Premier League contest after Dominik Szoboszlai’s first-half opener.
Igor Tudor’s side produced a much-improved display on Merseyside, with Souza among those to impress prior to being taken off.
But Hackett believes Tudor should have seen a yellow card in Spurs’ draw with Liverpool due to a gesture towards referee Chris Kavanagh.
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Souza lucky to avoid booking at Anfield
Souza was involved in an incident early in the second half in which he sent Rio Ngumoha crashing to the ground.
However, referee Kavanagh rightly adjudged that Souza did not make near enough contact on his opponent to warrant a penalty being awarded.
Tottenham’s players were unhappy that Kavanagh did not book the Liverpool ace for diving, with Souza waving an imaginary yellow card in the referee’s direction.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News about the incident, Hackett said: “Ngumoha did go to ground, but he was moving at pace before he went to ground.
“This was a natural fall and not one where he had committed an act of simulation to deceive the referee. The referee therefore made the correct call.
“However, when you see the Spurs player waving an imaginary card, if the referee sees this then a yellow card should have been shown to Souza.”
Premier League referees have clamped down on players waving imaginary yellow cards, but Kavanagh may not have seen Souza do just that on this occasion.
Tottenham still winless in 2026 but major positives to take
A defeat would have been tough to take for Spurs on the basis of their performance, especially after going behind.
Richarlison went close multiple times prior to finding a way past Alisson late on, with that a fully deserved equaliser.
The Brazilian has now been directly involved in 100 Premier League goals, which is an impressive personal milestone.
Tudor may be without a win in five games since succeeding Thomas Frank, but he has at least stopped the losing run.
Spurs are one of two clubs out of 92 in England’s top four tiers without a league win in 2026, along with Sheffield Wednesday, but Tudor can take plenty of positives from both the performance and the result.