Referee Craig Pawson initially disallowed Rayan Cherki’s late goal for Manchester City against Liverpool because he “did not see” Erling Haaland’s foul on Dominik Szoboszlai.
Cherki’s long-range shot into an unguarded net with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson upfield looked to have sealed Manchester City’s dramatic 3-1 win in extra time, but was ruled out after a VAR check.
Szoboszlai initially fouled Haaland but the referee ruled the play in his favour, with the striker fouling the Liverpool midfielder who rolled into goal after both players raced to reach the loose ball.
Pawson scored from the field but was sent off for denying a clear scoring opportunity after VAR John Brooks spotted a foul on Haaland and recommended he should be excluded along with Szoboszlai, and play was restarted with a Man City free-kick.
Explaining the decision to Pawson, VAR said: “There’s a clear foul on Erling Haaland here, which means he can’t catch the ball, okay?”
Pawson replied: “Yes, that’s a full-back. That’s what I played to my advantage.”
“But the defender (Soboszlai) has a clear holding attack, so we can’t ignore it with our advantage,” VAR said.
“Oh, I didn’t see that.” Pawson said before ruling out a goal and sending off Szoboszlai.
In joint commentary sky sports At the time of the incident, Gary Neville said: “It seems really unfair. I know there are rules, but it smells like a game and the game has been completely taken away.”
“No one would disallow that goal, but it won’t be allowed. Talk about a killjoy. Liverpool lose because a man gets sent off, City lose because they don’t score a goal.”
“You killed a moment of the season.”
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Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai saw a goal against RED and Manchester City disallowed after a fight with Erling Haaland!
Responding Game officials took the microphone.“I heard a lot of people say, ‘Why don’t we just ignore those two and just allow the goal?’” said PGMO referee Howard Webb.
“Refereeing at Premier League level requires a feel and understanding of the game and you try to apply common sense as much as possible, but there are limits.
“The ball went into the goal because Erling Haaland pulled Szoboszlai and prevented him from clearing the ball, so we cannot allow that goal to stand for that reason.
“When Szoboszlai initially pulled Haaland, the referee tried to give the advantage and he watched what happened and saw if the ball went straight for the goal. It was a good advantage and we conceded a goal.
“But the ball only goes into the goal because Haaland clearly attacked Szoboszlai. We cannot ignore that, so we cannot allow the advantage, because it was caused by Haaland’s actions. So we have to go right back to the first attack where Szoboszlai pulled Haaland in.
“Outside the penalty area, he denied an obvious chance to score, so a free kick was awarded and Szoboszlai was sent off.”
“He appealed Haaland’s foul. He was right to appeal because it was a foul, but unfortunately he committed an initial offense that should have been penalized, and we obviously ended up in the right position with VAR.”
The Spurs-Arsenal referee defended Gabriel’s call.
Meanwhile, north London derby referee Peter Bankes has further confirmed his belief that Tottenham’s second Randall Kolo Muani equalizer was disallowed due to a foul on Gabriel.
With Arsenal leading 2-1, Gabriel went down under pressure from Kolo Muani and referee Banks awarded a free kick after the Spurs forward put the ball in the goal.
VAR confirmed the call and ruled on the spot that it was a foul, with opinions divided over whether Gabriel had fallen too softly.
Bankes addressed a controversial moment in the game. Game officials took the microphone. And described it as “a very clear crime”.
“I see the Tottenham player putting his hands behind the Arsenal player. That will be my main focus,” Bankes said. “When you see two hands on your back in live play, it definitely feels like you’re pushing.
“We delayed the whistle to allow play to continue and made the final decision once the ball was in the goal. This allowed VAR to check if I had misread something or if something looked odd. But on the field it was a very clear infringement.”
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At Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd discuss Tottenham’s disallowed goal after Randall Kolo Muani reportedly pushed Arsenal’s Gabriel just before the attack.
Bankes then showed a different angle and asked if he had a different take on the incident after seeing it again.
“Not at all,” he said. “It’s still comfortable.
“Things can look different at different speeds. They can look different in slow motion than they do in real time. One look and I’m sure the hands on my back were a crime.
“I understand there will be differing opinions on that, but I am still comfortable that it is enough for free kicks.”
