VAR NO GOAL
Latest Liverpool news and gossip has emerged as the Premier League and PGMOL released the latest round of VAR audio, including an incident during Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. The match took place over the weekend, allowing Liverpool to maintain their position at the top of the Premier League table as they head into the October international break. Diogo Jota scored the decisive goal for Arne Slot’s team.
During the match, a VAR check was conducted regarding a potential penalty for Crystal Palace. The incident involved Virgil van Dijk appearing to hold Marc Guehi during a cross into the penalty area. Referee Simon Hooper did not award a penalty, and video assistant referee David Coote agreed with the on-field decision after reviewing the replays. Coote concluded that the “hold” by Van Dijk was not sufficient to warrant a penalty for Palace.
PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb discussed the incident, along with former Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
HowardWebb stated, “In this case, we see an action by Van Dijk that is very quick, particularly at full speed and the ball is always going towards the goalkeeper. We don’t think that the action really impacts Guehi’s ability to get to the ball. The referee saw it that way, didn’t penalise [Van Dijk] and when the VAR checked it, they saw it in the same way and cleared it for what it was, a very quick holding that didn’t impact Guehi’s ability to play the ball. If you look at the [incident] at 50 per cent [speed], of course it’s going to double the amount of time the holding happens and if you put it at 25 per cent, it makes it four times as long and of course it can look a lot more impactful as well.”
