Arsenal players were left frustrated by Anthony Taylor after he stopped play before they scored against Liverpool(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)

Premier League forced to release two Arsenal VAR statements in Liverpool referee chaos

28 Oct 2024, 04:00 by Tom Coley · football.london

For the second weekend in a row, Arsenal were left with questions to ask of the referee. Following the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth in which William Saliba was sent off, sparking anger from the club's travelling away fans and online followers, Mikel Arteta's side were once again left frustrated.

At the Vitality Stadium, it was Rob Jones who overturned his yellow card into a red one after a VAR review recommended checking the decision via the pitchside monitor. Anthony Taylor was the man in the middle on Sunday as Arsenal were eventually held 2-2 by Liverpool.

The Reds hit back twice to goals from Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino, netting a late leveller. The match between title rivals didn't lack talking points even if quality was on the short side at stages.

Not only did Virgil van Dijk appear to kick out twice at Kai Havertz early on in a small provocation between the two players, but lengthy VAR checks were on hand yet again. Gabriel Martinelli felt he was fouled in the first half when sandwiched between Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Premier League's Match Centre (an official X - formerly Twitter - account), wrote: "The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Konate on Martinelli was checked and confirmed by VAR - deeming that Konate won the ball." The score was 1-1 at the time with Arsenal players left unhappy with Taylor and Stockley Park officials not giving them a penalty.

By half-time, the anger had turned to joy. Merino headed in from Declan Rice's inch-perfect cross. It took a while for that goal to be confirmed, though, with an offside review taking place.

"The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by the VAR as there were no attackers in an offside position," the Match Centre explained. Gary Neville, on commentary, wasn't impressed with the speed of Michael Salisbury and Darren Cann on VAR and assistant VAR duties..

That was far from the end of the referee discourse. With just seconds of normal time to go, Taylor made no friends in the Arsenal squad or fanbase as he blew early during a move that would end with Gabriel Jesus tapping in for what would have been a late winner.

The Brazilian looked surprised to see Taylor had already ended play, with Kai Havertz also left bemused after his effort had hit the post. Havertz initially jumped alongside Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate as the ball came off his arm, but football.london understands it was Jakub Kiwior's challenge on Dominik Szoboszlai that Taylor deemed to have been illegal.

Kiwior leapt over and into Szoboszlai, winning the ball in the air, ending up on the floor after a dominating header. Despite Szboszlai not jumping or competing for the ball, Taylor ruled that he had been fouled, meaning Havertz's handball, the shot, and Jesus' subsequent finish were all irrelevant.

Because Taylor stopped play, VAR was unable to have any say in the matter. Arteta explained afterwards that he had not been told why the foul was given. "I’m sure we’ll get a letter afterwards but I don’t know," he said.

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean explained: "It's more of a soft foul if anything, to be fair he's just penalised the Arsenal player. It's probably a 50-50 call, for me. He's had a good game the referee, so I can't criticise him for that to be honest with you."

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
UEFA Champions League
Watch Arsenal's Champions League games free

Prime Video is broadcasting one Champions League game every game week free for Amazon Prime members. Arsenal's upcoming fixtures include Shakhtar Donetsk on October 22, which is free for Prime members or those signing up for a 30-day free trial.

Every Champions League and Europa League game is also available on TNT Sports via Prime Video’s Discovery+ channel.

£0

Amazon
Get Amazon Prime here