Liverpool told why VAR did not rule out Southampton’s opening goal

Liverpool told bizarre reason why VAR did not rule out Southampton opener for a foul on Diogo Jota

Jurgen Klopp was left fuming on the sidelines when Liverpool conceded the first goal to Southampton yesterday in a must-win Premier League game, with VAR not intercepting to call for a supposed foul in the build-up.

Diogo Jota looked like he was fouled by Lyanco, Southampton’s 25-year-old Brazilian centre-back, which had LFC on the backfoot against a counterattack. He then carried the ball forward, which found its way to Nathan Redmond.

The So’ton winger’s shot took a wicked deflection off James Milner and found its way into the back of Alisson Becker’s net. Klopp and Liverpool fans were fuming with the decision to not check for the foul on Jota.

It now turns out that the incident bizarrely did not make the cut for what can be checked by VAR. That is according to journalist Chris Williams on Twitter (h/t Liverpool Echo), who relayed PL Match Centre’s reasoning in his tweet above.

Making your own luck

It didn’t eventually matter, as Takumi Minamino’s equaliser cancelled out Redmond’s opener, and a second-half header from Joel Matip got us all three points. Nevertheless, that moment from the ref and VAR may well have taken a deserved clean sheet away from Alisson Becker and his defence.

The Reds are now 1 point behind Manchester City going into the final game of the season. The title is somehow still up for grabs but with the Cityzens as overwhelming favourites.

Liverpool also played a considerably changed side against the Saints in order to keep the players fresh after a tiring FA Cup final against Chelsea and before the PL game against Wolves.

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Hopefully, there are no refereeing controversies in our next two games- at least none where the Reds are at the receiving end of it. After the game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Reds travel to Paris to take on Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final.