To save Baz posting it
Main points -
How did the VAR fail to give Liverpool a late penalty against Man City?
Should Liverpool have been awarded a late penalty against Manchester City? Did the VAR have any grounds to advise Arsenal's Kai Havertz should have been sent off?
www.espn.com
Main points -
- A key factor is Oliver's clear, unobstructed view. If he's seen the high boot, the touch on the ball and on Mac Allister, and has judged minimal contact with the boot not to be enough for a spot kick, then there's not really anywhere for the VAR to go for a review when there's such a high bar.
- Challenges made inside the area are judged to a higher threshold. To say "it's a foul anywhere else on the pitch" has merit, but that doesn't change the fact that the game isn't refereed that way because a penalty is a greater punishment than a free kick. Think of it as the burden of proof; inside the area a referee feels he must be even more certain of his decision as a goal-scoring chance is the result.
- Liverpool have also had such judgements go in their favour. The panel said that the referee was wrong to give Dominik Szoboszlai a penalty against Bournemouth, and Diogo Jota shouldn't have been awarded a spot kick against Newcastle -- but neither were sufficiently wrong to be overturned on review.