PREMIER LEAGUE ADMITS HUGE VAR BLUNDER COST LIVERPOOL AGAINST ARSENAL

 

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The Premier League's independent review panel has officially acknowledged that Liverpool were incorrectly denied a crucial penalty during their recent defeat to Arsenal. The verdict vindicates manager Andoni Iraola following a controversial incident where Jurrien Timber pulled back Alexander Isak inside the penalty area.

Premier League admit penalty mistake

The Premier League's Key Match Incident (KMI) Panel has acknowledged that Liverpool were wrongly denied a penalty in their recent 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game in the first half to secure three points for Mikel Arteta's side. Just minutes after the opening goal, Jurrien Timber pulled back Alexander Isak as the forward attempted to head a cross from Bradley Barcola.

Referee Andy Madley waved away the protests, and the video assistant referee, Stuart Attwell, cleared the incident. However, the KMI Panel has now concluded that a spot-kick should have been awarded. Their independent assessment ruled 4:1 in favour of a penalty being given by the on-field official.

Iraola vindicated over penalty claims

Three of the five panel members also voted that VAR should have intervened and sent Madley to the pitchside monitor, citing a clear and obvious error. The ruling vindicates Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola, who was furious after the final whistle.

Following the defeat, Iraola stated that there was a "clear grab" of Isak's shirt inside the penalty area. The frustrated boss even suggested he might have to instruct his players to go down easily to win fouls in the future.

The decision allowed Arsenal to grind out their first victory at Anfield since 2012. Meanwhile, Liverpool were left reflecting on a pivotal moment that heavily influenced the final result.

KMI panel explains threshold criteria

In their official report, the panel elaborated on the current directives regarding holding offences. They stressed the importance of penalising sustained, non-footballing actions that have a material impact on play. They also noted officials must assess whether the defender makes any genuine attempt to challenge for the ball.

"In the Premier League, there is a strong mandate for the on-field officials and VAR to recognise and penalise holding actions that are sustained and have a clear material impact on play, as well as an increased emphasis on non-footballing holding actions that have no place on the football pitch," the panel explained.

"Referees will consider a number of factors when determining an offence, including whether a player is focused solely on an opponent rather than the ball, whether they make any attempt to play or challenge for the ball, if they are holding an opponent with both arms and if the holding is sustained or impactful to an opponent or their clothing.

"In this instance the panel deemed that Timber’s challenge on Isak met the threshold for a holding offence and should have resulted in a penalty kick, both on-field and through VAR intervention."

Reds bounce back against Palace

The defeat appeared to be a major blow for the Reds, who subsequently suffered a surprise 3-2 loss to Fenerbahce in the Champions League. However, Iraola’s side managed to get back to winning ways by defeating Crystal Palace in the Premier League last weekend. That vital win keeps the club well within the chasing pack near the top of the table. They currently sit fourth in the standings, nine points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.

- Yosua Arya

REFEREE RIGHT TO SEND OFF DECLAN RICE - PREMIER LEAGUE PANEL

Declan Rice was controversially shown a red card during the second half of Arsenal's draw with Brighton. Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

The Premier League's Independent Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has unanimously supported referee Chris Kavanagh's decision to send off Declan Rice in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Aug. 31.

Rice was already on a caution when he got into an altercation with Joël Veltman and gave away a free kick. As Veltman stepped forward to kick the ball, Rice knocked it off the pitch with his foot, and Kavanagh showed the Arsenal midfielder a second yellow card for delaying the restart of play.

The findings, seen by ESPN, state that "Rice knows what he's doing, it's a gentle touch but once the referee sees it, he has no choice."

The KMI panel has five members, made up of three former players and/or coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and PGMOL. It was set up at the start of the 2022-23 season to give an independent assessment of decision-making rather than relying on the views of PGMOL or the clubs themselves. The judgement is intended to provide an arm's-length assessment of all major match incidents but gives weight to the decision of the referee in subjective situations, taking into account the laws of the game and the Premier League's interpretation.

There was "unanimous agreement" among the five on the KMI panel "that the actions of Rice were clear, deliberate and impactful. Therefore, the referee was correct to send Rice off for a second caution for delaying the restart."

The panel also supported the decision of referee Jarred Gillett not to show a second yellow card to Crystal Palace midfielder Will Hughes at Chelsea on Sept. 1. Hughes had pulled back Cole Palmer on the edge of the box, but on a split 3-2 vote the panel said "it is a holding offence but it doesn't feel like it's stopping a promising attack due to the Palace defender positioned immediately in front of Palmer."

So far this season there has been little real controversy in the Premier League, with only one VAR decision ruled to be incorrect -- when Tim Robinson intervened to disallow Dango Ouattara's injury time "winner" for handball in AFC Bournemouth's game against Newcastle United on Aug. 25.

While there have been no other VAR errors, the panel has ruled there were two penalties situations which were wrong on the pitch but didn't meet the threshold for a clear and obvious error for an intervention: Referee Tony Harrington should not have given West Ham United a spot kick against Aston Villa, while Ipswich Town should have been awarded a penalty at Manchester City.

Across 84 key match incidents looked at by the VAR across the first three matchdays, only nine votes out of a possible 420 have said the video assistant made a mistake -- and five of those came in the unanimous judgement that Bournemouth's goal should have stood.

- Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FC