Initially, Liverpool were awarded a penalty during their match against Chelsea on Sunday, when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez rushed out of his line and collided with Curtis Jones in stoppage time of the first half. It seemed like Liverpool had a chance to double their lead, but after referee John Brooks reviewed the incident on the VAR monitor, the penalty decision was overturned.
The Premier League later clarified the reasoning behind this decision. According to the official Twitter account Match Centre, VAR deemed that Sanchez had touched the ball and no foul had occurred, prompting the referee to reverse his original decision and resume the game with a dropped ball.
Earlier, in the 27th minute, Liverpool were awarded a penalty after Levi Colwill fouled Curtis Jones. This incident did not require a VAR check as the foul was deemed obvious, and Mohamed Salah converted the penalty to open the scoring.
The match also saw other controversial moments, such as Chelsea’s centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo only receiving a yellow card for his foul on Diogo Jota, even though a similar challenge had led to Wiliam Saliba being sent off earlier. Additionally, Chelsea felt they deserved a penalty after a tussle between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jadon Sancho, but VAR did not intervene.