VAR storm as West Brom have goal disallowed before Liverpool are awarded penalty in controversial tie
Craig Pawson becomes to the first Premier League referee to review an in-action decision via VAR pitch-side monitor
LIVERPOOL were dumped out of the FA Cup amid video ref chaos.
Furious West Brom fans chanted “f*** the VAR” after Reds got TWO controversial decisions via the TV replay system.
First ref Craig Pawson was told by video official Andre Marriner to rule out a Baggies goal for offside.
Then minutes later Pawson ran to the pitch-side TV screen and gave Liverpool a penalty after initially waving play on.
LIVERPOOL 2 WEST BROM 3 Reds crash out of FA Cup amid VAR chaos
Both decisions created history — the first goal ruled out and the first penalty decision reversed — but the spot-kick award took up almost FOUR minutes.
And players on both sides were shamefully pleading with Pawson to check decisions on the TV screen.
MARK HALSEY'S VERDICT
VAR has helped Craig Pawson get three key decisions correct.
But all of them took far too long and that is a big problem.
Like many viewers, I came to a conclusion straight away after seeing replays, yet it took almost four minutes to award Liverpool a penalty.
Craig Dawson’s header was the first goal to be ruled out by technology in this country.
Pawson used a monitor when he overturned his original decision for the spot-kick that Roberto Firmino missed.
Fans in the stadium need to see what is going on so incidents should be shown on the big screens, like other sports.
Later West Brom players had to wait an agonising 90 seconds to discover whether their third goal would stand.
After offside concerns, Baggies’ No 3 was given as a Joel Matip own goal.
Former top refs Mark Halsey and Chris Foy both blasted the amount of time taken over the decisions.
Halsey said: “I came to a conclusion straight away after seeing the replays. It shouldn’t be taking so long. The incidents should be shown on the big screens to let the fans know what’s going on.”
Foy added: “The difficulty at Anfield is that they don’t have a big screen for the fans to see it. It was a big day for VAR.”
WBA defender Craig Dawson said: “There’s a delay and there’s a lot of waiting around and uncertainty. You’ve got to keep focused and ready for when play starts.”