25 February 2024 , 17:32
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Jamie Redknapp admitted that it was the "right decision" for VAR to chalk off Virgil van Dijk's Carabao Cup final goal.
The Dutch defender thought he had given his side the lead against Chelsea on Sunday with a thumping header from a free-kick. However, his celebrations were cut short by both the VAR and referee Chris Kavanagh.
In the build-up to the goal, Wataru Endo blocked off Levi Colwill and was ruled offside - despite not playing a direct role in Van Dijk's strike. While the decision garnered plenty of criticism from Reds' fans, former Liverpool star Redknapp conceded it was the correct call going by the rule book.
Speaking on Sky Sports' coverage of the game, he said: "This is as a contentious one as there is really. You can see Endo there interfering with Colwill as he’s trying to come out. Letter of the law, I guess it’s the right decision.
"We see these situations happen in the Premier League week in, week out. It’s the consistency I think. That dropping zone where the ball is coming in, where Van Dijk gets the header, I suppose VAR is looking at is where Colwill would be.
"It’s coming in as a flat delivery, it’s not that high. Virgil doesn’t have to jump. That’s the area so I get why they have done it but week in, week out, we don’t get that consistency. That gap is there and Van Dijk takes advantage of it."
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Van Dijk's goal was not the only strike to have been ruled out by a flag at Wembley. Former Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling thought he had given Chelsea the lead in the first-half as he tapped home from Nicolas Jackson's low cross.
Chris Kavanagh ruled out Virgil van Dijk's goal against Chelsea (Getty Images)Was the decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk's goal correct? Share your thoughts in the comments below
However, the striker was flagged marginally offside, a decision that VAR agreed with. Elsewhere, there were even more contentious calls by the officiating team.
A crunching Moises Caicedo challenge left Ryan Gravenberch writhing in pain - and boss Jurgen Klopp furious. There were a few suggestions that the Chelsea man should have been sent off.
While Redknapp stopped short of calling for a dismissal, he expressed his sympathy for Liverpool. "It's not a great challenge, it's extremely clumsy," he said.
"I think it always is worse when a player's foot is planted. You can see here, as Gravenberch makes the challenge, his foot is planted. It looks disgusting. You can see here, Caicedo is not looking where the ball is going. You can see why he [Gravenberch] comes off. It's definitely a yellow card. I can see why Jurgen Klopp was so upset and disappointed with it."
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