Premier League admits VAR error over Liverpool penalty appeal in Arsenal defeat

The Premier League has acknowledged that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Anfield earlier this month.

The incident occurred shortly after Kai Havertz’s 16th-minute goal, when Liverpool striker Alexander Isak appeared to be pulled by Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber inside the penalty area.

Referee Andy Madley did not award a spot-kick, and he was not asked to review the decision on the pitch following a VAR check.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola criticised the decision after the match, saying there had been a “clear grab” of Isak’s shirt by the Dutch defender. Iraola also suggested his players might need to go to ground in such situations if they were to win penalties.

The Premier League’s Key Match Incident (KMI) Panel has now reviewed the incident and concluded that the contact should have resulted in a penalty.

“In the Premier League, there is a strong mandate for the on-field officials and VAR to recognise and penalise holding actions that are sustained and have a clear material impact on play, as well as an increased emphasis on non-footballing holding actions that have no place on the football pitch,” the panel said.

The panel explained that referees assess several factors when deciding whether holding has taken place. These include whether the defender is concentrating only on the opponent rather than the ball, whether there is any attempt to play or challenge for possession, whether both arms are used and whether the contact is sustained or has an impact on the opponent or their clothing.

“In this instance the panel deemed that Timber’s challenge on Isak met the threshold for a holding offence and should have resulted in a penalty kick, both on-field and through VAR intervention,” the statement added.

The panel’s assessment also found disagreement over the level of intervention required.

Four of its five members judged that the on-field referee should have awarded the penalty. Three of the five believed VAR should also have intervened and instructed Madley to review the incident at the pitch-side monitor.

Those members considered the decision not to award the penalty to be “a clear and obvious error”.

The admission confirms that the penalty appeal was incorrectly rejected during a match Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield.