Manchester City produced late comeback to beat Liverpool in chaotic game
Sometimes the video assistant referee (VAR) just cannot win, stuck in a hole between what feels right in the spirit of the game and what is correct in law.
Manchester City thought they had scored a third goal at Liverpool which would have capped off one of the most dramatic ends to a Premier League game this season.
But it was stripped away by a VAR review for a foul committed just before the ball rolled over the line.
Fans will hate it, pundits won’t like it, and football will turn its nose up too. Yet there really was no way the VAR, John Brooks, could not intervene.
A foul was committed that facilitated a goal being scored which might have otherwise been prevented. It is really as simple as that.
It was a unique set of circumstances right at the end of a dramatic game which gave City a 2-1 win at Anfield.
Here’s what happened and why.
Impossible for the goal to stand?
With Alisson marooned upfield for a set-piece as Liverpool searched for a late equaliser, Rayan Cherki kicked the ball towards an empty net from just inside his own half.
Haaland gave chase and was clearly going to outpace Dominik Szoboszlai.
The City striker had overtaken Szoboszlai 25 yards from goal and looked certain to win the race – but he was pulled back.
It was a clear foul which referee Craig Pawson identified, but he played an advantage.
As the ball rolled towards the goal with the same two players still jostling to reach it, Liverpool’s Hungary international was about to slide in and clear it off the line.
Before Szoboszlai could do so, however, Haaland pulled him back, and that stopped the home player from keeping the ball out of the net.
The first pull on the Norway striker muddies the waters. After all, it seemed Haaland was definitely going to score.
But they are two distinct situations. You have to separate the first foul by Szoboszlai and the subsequent offence from Haaland.
Would Szoboszlai have prevented the goal had he not been fouled? There is a high chance.
On that basis it is impossible for the goal to stand.
Remember that Pawson played advantage. Had Szoboszlai been allowed to successfully keep the ball out, the play would have been brought back and he would have been sent off.
The end result would be the same as the outcome of the VAR intervention: no goal and Szoboszlai sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
If you take out the first pull on Haaland, it is hard to see how anyone could have a problem with the goal being disallowed.
This is not the first time, or the last, that the VAR has correctly disallowed a goal and people really struggle to stomach it.
Yes, the goal could be important for Manchester City at the end of the season. But the goal conceded could also turn out to be vital for Liverpool.
‘Come on referee, give the goal and go home’
While the video assistant referee’s intervention was ultimately correct, leading to Pawson to announce the decision to both teams and the fans, it certainly split the crowd.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who was covering the game for Sky Sports, said it “feels so unjust”.
He added: “I know there’s rules but there is the smell of the game. Talk about killjoy. Just let the goal be.
“You have just killed one of the great moments of the season.
“You live to watch games like this. I am a fan of VAR, but it has just killed the joy.
“The reason fans watch football matches is for entertainment and for moments like that.”
But ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane said, if anything, the moment “just added to the drama” and described it as “great”.
Manchester City forward Haaland said he actually felt sorry for his ex-RB Salzburg team-mate Szoboszlai.
“The referee has to follow the rules,” Haaland told Sky Sports. “I feel bad for him. Just give the goal and not the red card, simple as that.
“But that’s the rules and that’s how it is.”
City boss Pep Guardiola simply told BBC Match of the Day: “Come on referee, give the goal and go home.”
