Gerrard says VAR missed ‘clear’ shirt pull in Liverpool’s defeat by Arsenal

Steven Gerrard has criticised VAR official Stuart Attwell after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat by Arsenal, describing the failure to review a penalty incident involving Alexander Isak as an “absolute embarrassment”.

The controversy came in the 21st minute at Anfield, when Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber appeared to pull Isak’s shirt inside the penalty area. Referee Stuart Attwell did not award a penalty, and the incident was not reviewed by VAR.

It occurred five minutes after Kai Havertz had scored the only goal of the game, which gave Arsenal victory in Sunday’s Premier League meeting and ended their 14-year wait to beat Liverpool away from home.

Isak continued playing after the shirt pull and did not protest to the referee. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola indicated afterwards that he could encourage his players to go to ground in similar situations in future.

Speaking on The Overlap Daily, former Liverpool captain Gerrard questioned why Attwell, who was responsible for VAR, had not intervened.

“The speed of the cross, the way the incident happened and the reaction that followed could perhaps explain how the referee missed it or thought it was not a major foul,” Gerrard said.

“But for someone to be sitting in the VAR room, surrounded by all those screens, and still fail to see it is an absolute embarrassment.”

Gerrard said Timber had held Isak’s shirt for an extended period and argued that the officials had several opportunities to examine the challenge.

“He held his shirt for a long time,” he added. “The referee had three or four chances to review the incident and slow it down, as well as having access to the large number of cameras in stadiums now.

“What happened from Stuart Attwell was extremely poor.”

The defeat left Liverpool without a goal in the match, while Arsenal held on to claim a narrow win at Anfield. Havertz’s finish in the 16th minute proved decisive in the ninth round of the Premier League season.

The result also renewed focus on the role of VAR in penalty-area incidents, with Gerrard directing his strongest criticism at the decision not to send the shirt pull to the referee’s monitor for closer examination.