Premier League issue statement on Liverpool penalty after double VAR intervention
The decision to award Liverpool a penalty after Lewis Cook's challenge on Cody Gakpo was checked for two separate possible transgressions before Mo Salah dispatched the spotkick
by Scott Trotter · The MirrorThe Premier League have released a statement following Liverpool being awarded a penalty against Bournemouth.
Darren England awarded a spotkick after judging Lewis Cook to have tripped Reds star Cody Gakpo. The Liverpool forward saw the foul on him reviewed and the possibility of whether he was offside in the build up also looked at.
The Dutchman was chasing a ball from Andy Robertson before losing the ball as Cook arrived on the scene. There appeared to be little contact in Cook's challenge as Gakpo fell to the ground and his opponent cleared the ball.
The official's decision was vindicated however, by video assistant referee John Brooks. The Premier League explained the review process via their match centre with Cook's clumsy challenge deemed to be a foul.
Their statement read: "The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed to have been a trip by Cook on Gakpo. The VAR also confirmed Gakpo was onside in the build-up."
Mo Salah scored the resultant penalty to hand Liverpool the lead in the game at the Vitality Stadium. The Egyptian delivered an emphatic effort to record his 20th goal of the season.
It was not long until VAR was under pressure to make a goal-deciding decision once again however. The Cherries netted an equaliser before half-time but saw David Brooks' effort cancelled out by VAR.
The Bournemouth star had launched Milos Kerez's pull-back into the net, but while he was onside, the provider was not. The full-back was judged to be offside in the build up.
"The referee’s call of no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Kerkez in an offside position in the build-up," read a statement from the Premier League Match Centre.
The decisions made by England were sure to come under some additional scrutiny on Saturday afternoon. Until Saturday, the official had not taken charge of Liverpool mach since he was on VAR duties when Luis Diaz was wrongly denied a goal against Tottenham in 2023.
That incident saw the incorrect decision communicated to referee Simon Hooper, despite initially following the correct procedure to judge Diaz as onside. Liverpool will be thankful that more care was taken over the decisions made on Saturday.
Pat Nevin was impressed with Liverpool's first-half outing despite the scare late in the half.
"The game-management has been phenomenal from Liverpool. It's been a really good game and it's being played at a good pace," the former Chelsea ace told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"You cannot read it from here on in. It could go either way. I am thinking of Justin Kluivert, we have hardly mentioned his name. Bournemouth need to get him into the game."
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