The Reds returned to Premier League action on Saturday in their 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium – and VAR was yet again a part of the controversy.
It was an ugly match overall with Jurgen Klopp’s side having to work extremely hard to try and get something from the game. Brighton had a great chance with the early penalty and the Reds were lucky that Neal Maupay missed his spot-kick.
Mo Salah then eventually took the lead with a great finish that was subsequently ruled offside by VAR, taking the Reds back to square one. Diogo Jota managed to finally get Liverpool in the lead with a smart finish and that goal, luckily, was legitimate in the eyes of VAR.
Who was your MOTM vs Brighton?
Nat Phillips
James Milner
Diogo Jota
Fabinho
Again, VAR disallowed Sadio Mané’s header after he came on in the second half- with the cherry on top being the penalty awarded to Brighton in the 93rd minute after Robertson’s challenge on Welbeck.
What frustrates me is that when you watch the angle at which the referee was stood when the challenge was made, he is in clear view of the incident and doesn’t give a penalty – but when VAR does their review and asks him to watch the challenge again on the pitchside monitor, they slow the clip down which instantly makes it look worse and then awards it? You can clearly see that both players make intent to play the ball, so why is it suddenly deemed a penalty?
The point of VAR is that it is only the clear and obvious errors that are corrected in games – there is nothing clear and obvious about that penalty incident. One Liverpool fan took to Twitter after Wolves’ penalty appeal yesterday against Arsenal was ignored for a similar incident to the penalty awarded to Brighton…
One is a penalty, the other is booked for diving
The Liverpool effect pic.twitter.com/m2r89FVnNL
— Owen🇩🇪🇨🇦 (@LFCOwen96) November 29, 2020
The comparison just shows clearly that either both incidents are a penalty or neither of them is – there is no grey area surrounding this and it isn’t difficult to comprehend, so either a discussion needs to be had at the top or we’re just going to see our game fall further and further into disrepute.
Overall the team played so well considering and deserved the full three points with the current fixture list plaguing our season with injuries.
What do you think Liverpool fans, were you frustrated with the draw against Brighton? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…