Referee Craig Pawson initially awarded Rayan Cherki’s late goal for Manchester City against Liverpool because he “didn’t see” Erling Haaland’s foul on Dominik Szoboszlai.
Cherki’s long-range effort into an unguarded net, with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson caught upfield, appeared to have sealed a dramatic 3-1 win for Man City in stoppage time, but it was ruled out following a VAR check.
Szoboszlai initially fouled Haaland but the referee played advantage as the pair raced to reach the loose ball before the striker then fouled the Liverpool midfielder as it rolled into the goal.
Pawson awarded the goal on field, but VAR John Brooks spotted Haaland’s foul and recommended that it should be ruled out with Szoboszlai then sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity and the match restarted with a Man City free kick.
When explaining the decision to Pawson, VAR said: “There’s a clear foul here on Erling Haaland, which means he cannot get to the ball, ok?”
Pawson replied: “Yeah, that’s the pull back. That’s the one I played advantage on, yeah.”
VAR then said: “But then we cannot play advantage and ignore this because there is a clear holding offence on the defender (Szoboszlai), there.”
“Ah, I didn’t see that,” said Pawson before he went on to rule the goal out and send Szoboszlai off.
On co-commentary for Sky Sports at the time of the incident, Gary Neville said: “That feels so unjust, I know there are rules, but there is the smell of the game, it’s completely gone.
“There is no person who would disallow that goal. But it’s going to be disallowed. Talk about killjoy. Liverpool lose by getting a man sent off. City lose because they don’t get a goal.
“You have just killed one of the moments of the season.”
Responding on Match Officials Mic’d Up, PGMO Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb said: “I’ve heard lots of people say that, ‘Can you not just ignore the two and just allow the goal?’
“To referee at Premier League level, you need a feel for the game and an understanding, and we try to apply common sense where possible, but there’s a limit to that.
“The ball only goes in the goal because Erling Haaland pulls Szoboszlai, preventing him from being able to clear the ball, so we can’t allow that goal to stand for that reason.
“The referee tried to play an advantage when Szoboszlai initially pulls Haaland and he waits to see what happens and if the ball goes straight to the goal – that’s a good advantage and we give the goal.
“But the ball only goes into the goal because Haaland clearly commits an offence on Szoboszlai. We can’t ignore that; we can’t therefore just allow the advantage because it’s only accrued because of that action by Haaland, so we have to go right back to the initial offence, which is the one by Szoboszlai pulling Haaland.
“It’s outside the penalty area, it denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity so a free-kick is given and Szoboszlai is sent off.
“He was appealing for this foul by Haaland. He was right to appeal because it was a foul, but unfortunately for him, he’s committed an initial offence that has to be penalised, and we end up in what is clearly the right place through the use of VAR.”
Spurs-Arsenal ref defends Gabriel call
Meanwhile, north London derby referee Peter Bankes has doubled down on his belief that a second Randal Kolo Muani equaliser for Tottenham was rightly ruled out for a foul on Gabriel.
With Arsenal leading 2-1, Gabriel went down after a push from Kolo Muani, with referee Bankes giving the free-kick after the Spurs forward had put the ball in the net.
VAR checked the call and confirmed the on-field decision of foul, with a split opinion about whether Gabriel went down too softly.
Bankes addressed the contentious moment in the game on Match Officials Mic’d Up and described it as a “very clear offence”.
“I see two hands from the Tottenham player into the back of the Arsenal player – that is going to be my main focus,” Bankes said. “When you see two hands on the back in live play, it’s a clear push.
“I delayed the whistle so the play could continue and then gave my final decision once the ball went into the goal. That allows the VAR to check and see if I’ve misread something or if something doesn’t look right. But on-field it was a very clear offence.”
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Speaking on Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd discuss Randal Kolo Muani’s disallowed goal for Spurs after he allegedly pushed Arsenal’s Gabriel just before his strike.
Bankes was then shown another angle and was asked if he had any different view on the incident after watching it back.
“Not at all,” he said. “I’m still comfortable.
“Different speeds can make things look different. In slow motion, it can look different to what you see live. I get one look at it and I’m confident in my view that two hands on the back was an offence.
“I understand there will be split opinion on it but I’m still comfortable that it’s enough for a free-kick.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
