Carragher fumes at two 'blatant' VAR howlers after Liverpool vs Arsenal drama

24 December 2023 , 10:29

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Carragher fumes at two 'blatant' VAR howlers after Liverpool vs Arsenal drama

Jamie Carragher has blasted the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty during the 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday night.

The Gunners played out a thrilling clash against the Reds and raced into an early lead after Gabriel Magalhaes opened the scoring inside four minutes. Before Mohamed Salah netted an equaliser, Liverpool felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Martin Odegaard appeared to handle the ball inside the area.

The Arsenal captain seemed to lose his footing and as he aimed to pick himself back up to rebalance, the ball struck Odegaard's hand which in turn sparked furious protests from Liverpool players. The incident was subject to a lengthy VAR check before the on-field decision of no penalty stood.

During his post-match media duties, Gunners ace William Saliba confessed that Arsenal were fortunate to avoid giving away a spot-kick. Pressed on the matter, the France ace admitted: "Yeah, of course. It was a penalty but I’m not the ref and they have to accept."

Carragher has since addressed Saliba's comments, taking to Twitter /X to bemoan the referee's decision. The Liverpool legend quoted Saliba's interview and wrote: "It was a penalty & the man of the match knows it! Two blatant penalties for handball in the last two nights & VAR don’t get involved."

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Reds boss Jurgen Klopp echoed a similar sentiment on the incident, admitting he is unsure on how officials came to the verdict of no penalty. He told the media: "The penalty situation is a weird situation, I don't know if the ref can see it, but you look at it and I'm not sure how you can say it's not a penalty.

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Martin Odegaard appeared to handle the ball, but Liverpool were not awarded a penalty

"I'm pretty sure someone will explain it to me about why it wasn’t a handball, but I don’t know how. I don't say the ref can see it because I have no clue where he was at that moment.

"But that's another question. When somebody sits in the office, how can they not come to the conclusion that it might be worth having another look at it."

Arteta did not comment on the matter but did heap praise on his players for how they performed in such a cauldron of noise. The result leaves Arsenal top of the pile, a point in front of Liverpool going into Christmas.

Josh O'Brien