“Clear foul” for Southampton goal vs Liverpool, but ex-ref explains why VAR didn’t intervene | OneFootball

Lyanco’s challenge on Diogo Jota looked a clear foul, but the gap between that incident and Southampton’s goal might be why VAR didn’t intervene, according to former Premier League referee Mark Halsey.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was not happy that Nathan Redmond’s opening goal at St Mary’s counted, though he’ll at least be relieved his team came back to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Takumi Minamino and Joel Matip.

When asked about the incident between Lyanco and Jota, Halsey told CaughtOffside he felt it was a foul, but that it’s debatable if it happened in the same phase of play as Redmond’s goal.

“That challenge from Lyanco on Diogo Jota, I have to say that when I watched it in real time I thought it was a clear foul. Lyanco’s come through from behind and clearly caught him,” Halsey said.

Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports

“Martin Atkinson had a good viewing position, but the reason why I think he’s not given the free-kick is because of the direction of the ball. It maybe looked like Lyanco played the ball, but he didn’t, and I think you can argue it’s a clear foul.

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“Should VAR get involved? What they have to decide is, is that incident in the same phase as the attack that led to Nathan Redmond’s goal? I think you can argue it’s the same phase of play, but at the same time there’s maybe 40 seconds between the foul and the goal, so maybe VAR felt that was enough time for Liverpool to get their players back behind the ball and make a challenge.

“Did that foul occur in the same attacking phase as Redmond’s goal? A lot of people will feel VAR should’ve got involved, but the protocol says it has to be the same attacking phase. Does it matter how many seconds it takes? It seemed like a clear free-kick, but Martin obviously didn’t see it that way.”