Liverpool were denied a penalty in the opening exchanges of Sunday’s Premier League clash at Arsenal, but former striker John Barnes reckons the referee got the decision right even if VAR wasn’t consulted.
The Reds, who have floundered in the league so far this season while Arsenal have kept apace with Manchester City, found themselves a goal down within a minute thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s neat finish.
But Jurgen Klopp’s side perhaps deserved a chance to level the scores 15 minutes in when Gunners centre-back Gabriel appeared to handle Diogo Jota’s volleyed cross.
Jota was seeking to send the ball across goal, and it hit Gabriel on the top of his forearm – seemingly in an unnatural position, which is what defines a deliberate handball and not.
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i understands the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decided not to stop the game due to the proximity of Gabriel and the ball, meaning whether Brazilian’s arm was in a natural or unnatural position is immaterial.
Speaking at half-time, Sky Sports pundit Barnes said: “It’s too close. I don’t like this idea of an unnatural position because you’re a footballer, I’m not sure what an unnatural position is if you’re a footballer, running around your hands are up. It’s too close [to give a penalty].”
Arsenal led 2-1 at the break and Barnes was surprised the Reds hadn’t managed to capitalise more on their dominance.
“I would say [Liverpool deserved their equaliser] because in the first minute the game hadn’t really taken shape. Arsenal sat back and allowed Liverpool to dominate possession, and of course they got their deserved equaliser,” Barnes said.
“Liverpool were then in the ascendancy. They were dominating possession and coming forwards, so they will have been very disappointed to go in at half time 2-1 down. When they equalised it looked like there was only one team that was going to on and get a second.”
The controversy at the Emirates came in the wake of two handball incidents in West Ham’s 3-1 win over Fulham earlier in the day – neither of which were overturned upon second look. First Gianluca Scamacca appeared to handle the ball when collecting a looping Lucas Paqueta pass over the Cottagers defence before tapping home for West Ham’s second. VAR checked it, and let it stand.
Then Michail Antonio appeared to flick the ball over an oncoming defender’s foot en route to his goal in stoppage time.
A furious Marco Silva said after the game: “I will not speak about the referee, sorry, because they will probably come after me and I’ll be off the bench or pay a fine. I am not here for that, I am here to manage my players.
“It was a difficult moment for the referee. It’s tough for him to see. He was so embarrassed when he saw it on the screen. The decision comes from someone in the VAR.
“He has to respect that but I saw on his face he was embarrassed when I spoke to him. Everyone saw it. It is what it is. I can’t control it. We can’t control it as a football club. It’s not an easy journey for us but hopefully the decisions will be more balanced in the next few weeks.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Silva added: “I will not say to you what I think. Can I ask you what you think? Even for the third goal there was a handball about five seconds before. Congratulations to West Ham, they got the three points.”
Discussing the Scamacca incident at London Stadium, Fulham defender Tim Ream said: “The majority of us expected Scamacca’s goal to be ruled out – Bernd Leno pointed out that is why he wasn’t celebrating. There are swings and roundabouts though, hopefully one goes in our favour.”
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