Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Anfield on 1 November, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has ruled. The panel found that Jurrien Timber’s shirt pull on Alexander Isak warranted a spot-kick and that VAR should have intervened after referee Andy Madley failed to award one.
What happened at Anfield
The incident came in the 21st minute, five minutes after Kai Havertz had given Arsenal the lead.
Bradley Barcola delivered a cross into the Arsenal penalty area, where Isak attempted to get his head to the ball. Timber grabbed the Liverpool striker’s shirt as he moved towards the delivery.
Isak narrowly failed to make contact with the cross but stayed on his feet.
Referee Andy Madley allowed play to continue, and VAR Stuart Attwell checked the incident and decided against recommending an on-field review.
Arsenal went on to win 1-0, with Havertz’s 16th-minute goal proving decisive.
The panel’s verdict
The five-member panel voted 4-1 that a penalty should have been awarded on the field.
The dissenting panellist felt Timber’s holding was short-lived and lacked a clear impact on Isak’s ability to progress. The majority judged that the contact was a holding offence.
The panel also voted 3-2 that VAR should have intervened and recommended an on-field review, with the majority judging the failure to intervene a clear and obvious error. The two panellists who disagreed cited the “subjectivity in assessing impact” as the reason it did not meet the high threshold for VAR intervention.
The Premier League said: “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 panel unanimously agreed that the challenge did not warrant a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
What Iraola said
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said after the match that it should have been a penalty. Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, he said: “There is a clear grab of the shirt. Alex was just in front of him. He was going to head in front of the goal, but couldn’t because he grabbed the shirt.”
He continued: “If he goes to the floor, they call the penalty, 100%.”
He added: “The answer is you have to dive. If you don’t dive they won’t call it.”
Iraola also said: “I think the Isak one is a clear penalty.”
Van Dijk and Carragher
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said: “I’ve seen it back and I’ve seen it given as well on other occasions. Today it wasn’t meant to be.
“The VAR doesn’t notice it? There are 50 cameras. Even more. Why does he have to complain when there are so many cameras?”
He added: “In the end, it wasn’t given and we lose the game unfortunately, so well done to Arsenal.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, working for Sky Sports, said: “One of the best goalscorers in the league is pulled back seven yards out and it stops him heading the ball – why does he need to make a meal of it? VAR, do your job.”
The panel’s findings do not change the result, but they confirm that the decision was wrong both on the field and at the VAR stage.
