Liverpool slam another “embarrassing” decision weeks after VAR fiasco
Offside flags might as well be dubbed public enemy No.1 in Liverpool after a contentious refereeing decision once again denied the Reds what looked to be a legitimate goal in the women’s Merseyside derby loss on Sunday.
Missy Bo Kearns believed she had given the hosts the lead at Anfield when she culminated a slick team move with a nice finish after four minutes. But the 22-year-old’s celebrations in front of the Kop skidded to a halt as the flag was raised for offside.
Replays of the disallowed goal showed the Liverpool midfielder looked to have been played onside by the foot of Heather Payne. However, without VAR in the women’s top-flight, the ruling stood and Liverpool were ultimately left to rue a decision that manager Matt Beard branded “embarrassing” after Everton’s Megan Finnigan supplied the decisive goal shortly after the half-hour mark.
"I don’t think we deserved to lose the game today,” Beard said after his side’s 1-0 loss. “I think the officiating has had an impact on the result. I’ve watched the goal back, the player that is pressing Taylor [Hinds] has kept Bo onside.
"The frustrating thing is it’s two different blades of grass colour wise. I’m just sick to death of it to be honest and it’s not just me is it? I think everyone says it."
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The incident inevitably evoked shades of the VAR fiasco in which Liverpool men's winger Luis Diaz was wrongly disallowed a goal against Tottenham in the Premier League last month. After intense backlash from fans and notable football figures alike, including Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, the PGMOL released the audio confirming that inexplicable human error played a role in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat.
And once more on Sunday, the Reds found themselves on the wrong side of a contentious offside decision. Beard confirmed he spoke with the officials after the match, though the promise of reviewing the decision offered little in the way of recompense after his side suffered their first defeat of the new season.
Missy Bo Kearns of Liverpool Women celebrating after scoring the opening goal which was later called offside"I’ve just been in [to see the officials]," the Liverpool boss said. "They’ll review it, that’s it. It’s had an impact on the result, we should be 1-0 up but they don’t see it or they make the wrong choice.
"You’ve got foul throws being taken in front of us live on Sky Sports. You’ve got the fourth official telling the referee it’s a foul throw and it’s not being acted upon. I just think it’s embarrassing really."
The start of the new WSL season has been consistently punctuated by controversial refereeing decisions. And shouts from managers such as Chelsea ’s Emma Hayes to look into implementing VAR and goal-line technology in the women’s top-flight have been fierce, though Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has routinely pointed out that technology does not guarantee the termination of human error.
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