Liverpool were denied a penalty against West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday after VAR elected to back referee Andy Madley after not giving a penalty for handball against James Ward-Prowse.
After Luis Diaz had given the Reds a first-half lead at Anfield, the hosts had a penalty shout waved away after a corner was brushed by Ward-Prowse’s outstretched hand at the Kop End in the second half. Madley waved away the appeals.
VAR too a look too, but decided to go with the on-field decision. The Premier League’s official Match Centre account subsequently posted on social media to confirm why the decision had been made, declaring Ward-Prowse’s handball as “accidental”.
It said: “The referee’s call of no penalty for a potential handball was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Ward-Prowse’s action deemed to be accidental and not a handball offence.”
The home side went into the second half with a 1-0 lead thanks to Diaz, who poked home from Mohamed Salah’s 23rd assist of the season after 18 minutes.
An Andy Robertson own goal late on looked to have given West Ham a share of the spoils, only for Virgil van Dijk to net in the 89th minute and put the hosts back in front.
“Nobody was leaving Anfield early and everybody is joining in the celebrations,” declared Paul Robinson, the ex-Tottenham and Blackburn goalkeeper, on colour commentary on BBC Radio Five Live.
“What a moment for Liverpool. What a key moment in their season. Van Dijk doesn’t have to do a lot but he gets himself free and heads it low into the bottom corner. The roof has come off Anfield!
From there they held on, taking themselves another step closer to the title.
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