Andy Robertson gives typically honest answer over huge VAR talking points in Liverpool win | OneFootball

Andy Robertson was typically forthright with his assessment of the two major VAR talking points from Liverpool’s win over Inter Milan on Tuesday night.

The Reds had an Ibrahima Konate goal disallowed in the first half after Hugo Ekitike was adjudged to have deliberately handled the ball in the build-up. It looked a harsh decision, and it scandalously took five minutes for the officials to make up their mind, with even Rio Ferdinand expressing sympathy with the Merseysiders.

Then, towards the end of normal time, Alessandro Bastoni momentarily tugged the shirt of Florian Wirtz, with the German going to ground. Again the referee was summoned to the pitchside VAR monitor and again he changed his mind, with Dominik Szoboszlai duly burying the resulting penalty.

Robertson has his say on both VAR interventions

While Robertson was naturally perplexed over how long it took for Konate’s goal to be harshly chalked off, he admitted that the spot kick that Liverpool were awarded may have been slightly generous.

He told Amazon Prime Video Sport: “The handball, for me, if it takes seven or eight minutes to get to a conclusion, I think you have to stick with the on-field decision. They can’t be taking that long and everyone [is] hanging around.

“If it takes that long for the ref and the VAR to make a decision, then I think you’ve got to stick to what the decision is. The penalty looked soft, but anywhere else on the pitch it gets given, and thankfully we got that one.”

Image via Amazon Prime Video Sport

A typically honest response from Robertson

We think Robertson is correct on both counts.

VAR was brought in to try and eradicate ‘clear and obvious’ errors, and if the officials can’t see any strong reason to overturn the original decision within 40-50 seconds, then the on-field call should stand and the game should continue.

The ball did strike Ekitike’s arm, but it came at him from close range and certainly wasn’t a deliberate action by the Frenchman, whose compatriot Konate can feel rightly aggrieved at his goal being disallowed.

However, Robertson was typically honest enough to acknowledge that the penalty decision in Liverpool’s favour may have been soft. Bastoni did give Felix Zwayer an excuse to award the spot kick, although Wirtz’s fall to the ground was rather theatrical, and we’d have been fuming if it happened the other way around.

Nonetheless, it was the kind of break that the Reds needed after such a difficult season, and amid the fallout from Mo Salah’s comments at the weekend.

Also, on the balance of play, Arne Slot’s side were deserving of their victory, which keeps us in firm contention to advance directly to the last 16 of the Champions League and bypass the knockout play-off round in February.