Dermot Gallagher has given his verdict on one major refereeing decision from Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.
With the teams level at 1-1 midway through the second half, players from the home side screamed for a penalty after noticing a handball offence which went unpunished by referee Michael Oliver but was subsequently referred to VAR.
Replays shows that Matthijs de Ligt had his arm raised and away from his body when it struck the ball, and Chris Kavanagh in Stockley Park convinced the on-field official to award the penalty, which Mo Salah duly converted to put the Reds in front.
Speaking on Sky Sports News‘ Ref Watch segment on Monday morning, Gallagher agreed with the decision to penalise the Man United defender, with Oliver not needing much time at the VAR monitor to change his original call.
The former Premier League referee said: “It’s a fair intervention because the rule is whether his arm is above shoulder. Well, it clearly is and the ball flies off the head of the player in front of him. His arm is too high.
“It’s a good intervention from VAR and they did it quickly. They sent the referee to the screen and he gave it straight away.”
Once Oliver had a chance to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, he really had no choice but to award the penalty for a clear handball offence against De Ligt.
VAR in the Premier League comes in for frequent and enormous criticism, and rightly so in many instances, but here’s a case study of how it can be used to good effect. A clear error was identified and rectified, and it was done quickly and efficiently without the time-consuming messing about that we often witness.
It’s fair to say that the Dutch defender had an eventful second half yesterday, having also been on the receiving end of a barge from Darwin Nunez which earned the Liverpool striker a fifth yellow card in the top flight this season, thus ruling him out of next week’s fixture away to Nottingham Forest.
Regarding the handball decision, we fully agree with Gallagher – De Ligt had his arm raised in the penalty area before the ball came near him, and was duly penalised for an error you wouldn’t expect from such an experienced defender.
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