07 January 2023 , 23:08
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Furious Julen Lopetegui believes his Wolves side were robbed of a famous FA Cup victory when VAR was unable to rule on a controversial late offside decision at Anfield.
Lopetegui thought Toti Gomes had won it with a third for Wolves but the assistant referee’s flag went up and VAR was not given sufficient video evidence to make a judgement on the close call. And the Wolves boss, along with skipper Ruben Neves, went in to see referee Andy Madley after the game.
The Spaniard later fumed: “We have seen it, the offside doesn't exist, I'm sorry. It's impossible. Someone has told him it's offside, but we've seen the images, it doesn't exist. Two touches are our players, and the second touch he doesn't want.
"The decision is wrong. I make mistakes every day, and sometimes they do too. Today we have the help of VAR, and it is a pity, because I'm sorry, it's not offside."
After Goncalo Guedes was gifted an opener, Darwin Nunez equalised and Mohamed Salah put Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead despite being initially offside before Toti’s misdirected header.
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And Lopetegui went on: “Salah was offside before Toti touched the ball, so he got an advantage. Toti, of course, is only going for it because of the offside player.
"The referee heard us and was very polite, but it has happened now. We have to accept it.
"It is a pity because we deserved to win against a fantastic team like Liverpool."
Wolves boss Lopetegui was booked for his protests after Toti's disallowed goal (Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)Hwang hee Chan had made it 2-2 with another goal that perhaps Liverpool 'keeper Alisson would be unhappy not to keep out. And while Klopp excused Alisson for his mistake on the opener, he also admitted he knew why Lopetegui and Wolves were “angry” at not being alone in the hat for the fourth round draw.
The Liverpool manager said: “The (first) goal should not happen but we all know how often Ali saves our backsides.”
“I'm not sure about their third goal. We have one picture where it may look offside, but I can understand why they are angry about it. We don't want the VAR to just have one angle."