‘It was a mistake’ – Dermot Gallagher decries refereeing error in dramatic Liverpool win | OneFootball

Dermot Gallagher believes that Liverpool were on the wrong end of a VAR ‘mistake’ in their 4-2 win over Bournemouth on Friday night.

The 2025/26 Premier League season got off to a highly eventful start at Anfield, with new Reds signing Hugo Ekitike among the goalscorers and Cherries winger Antoine Semenyo sadly being the recipient of shameful racist abuse from one individual inside the stadium.

In the first 15 minute of the match, there was another controversial incident of a different nature as Marcos Senesi appeared to deliberately handle the ball as the last defender in what looked like a clear-cut case of denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Rather than a red card being dished out to the Argentine, though, Bournemouth were actually awarded a free kick, and VAR didn’t intervene at any stage.

Gallagher: VAR acted too quickly in dismissing Senesi handball

Gallagher appeared on Sky Sports News on Monday morning for the first Ref Watch of the new season, and he believes that Michael Oliver in the booth at Stockley Park was too hasty in dismissing the possibility of a sending-off offence being committed.

The former top-flight official said: “I think this is a really interesting situation. The VAR, for me, has looked at it too quickly and cleared it. I think he’s seen the ball fly up off Senesi and has not watched the second part.

“He’s seen the ball hit the elbow off the knee and stopped looking. He hasn’t looked for the second swipe. If he sends the referee to the screen, the referee has all options. He probably sends Senesi off because Huge Ekitike is going to be away. The only doubt is, is it too far from goal? But this is a class forward.

“If it goes to the screen he would have been sent off. It was a mistake and fortunately it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.”

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Gallagher correct with his assessment

While the ball initially ricocheted off Senesi’s arm in an unintentional contact, the Bournemouth defender then clearly extended his hand towards the ball when it bounced back up in what looked a most deliberate action.

We agree with Gallagher’s assessment of the incident – we don’t want referees being sent over to the pitchside monitor too frivolously, but in this instance it would’ve been wholly justified, and Taylor may well have judged it differently had he been afforded the opportunity to watch a replay.

That moment was understandably overshadowed by the regrettable abuse towards Semenyo, whose response to the racist slur was incredibly mature and articulate, although it doesn’t mean that we should simply dismiss it out of hand because of how the match eventually transpired.

Oliver’s oversight didn’t cost Liverpool on this occasion, but similar negligence could well do so in the future; and if it’s not the champions, it could be another Premier League team at the wrong end of an abdication of duty.

Hopefully this won’t be another season of endless discussion about the standard of officiating in the English top flight, but from what we’ve seen in recent years, we won’t be holding our breath for any lasting improvement.