Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winner from the penalty spot after VAR judged Florian Wirtz to have been fouled by Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni
Liverpool scraped past Inter Milan 1-0 thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty on Tuesday night and the crucial late VAR call has drawn massive criticism. The decision to award the Reds a spot-kick has been called ‘scandalous’ in the aftermath of the Reds earning three points.
Florian Wirtz went down easily when Alessandro Bastoni tugged his shirt in the box. There were few arguments over the Italian’s touch but the Germany international’s reaction provoked a greater response.
Play initially continued, but VAR brought proceedings back for the referee to watch the play from the pitchside monitor. After briefing each captain, the official pointed from the spot and Szoboszlai produced the winning strike.
Former England boss Fabio Capello was aghast at what transpired. “It’s a scandalous penalty,” he said, per Football Italia. “I don’t understand why the VAR had to intervene when the referee saw it all, the obvious simulation throwing himself to the ground.”
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Capello had plenty of backing too. “It is such a soft penalty!” said ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock on 5 live. “Did they deserve to get that penalty? Probably not but the fans won’t care.”
Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was furious and told Prime Video: “I don’t know how they came up with a penalty that never existed but this is football. We are not happy. If you give a penalty like this, then every contact in the box is a penalty.”
Ex-ref Mark Clattenberg was equally surprised by the decision. “It was a shirt pull, however, that shirt pull…the player went down straight afterwards,” he said.
“You know what, this is what is crazy about VAR. We all agree, as football people, that this is not a penalty and now he is going to end up giving this as a penalty because of the shirt pull and the slow motion replays.”
Even Liverpool star Andy Robertson conceded it was ‘soft’. Though he reckoned a foul is given elsewhere on the pitch.
The Scotland international was frustrated to see Ibrahima Konate’s effort ruled out for handball in the opening half. “Huge result,” he said at full time.
“We knew we were coming to a tough place, to a team that’s in a good moment. We had to show fight and dig in. The clean sheet was crucial and then we go and scored the goal.
“The handball for me, I think it took seven or eight minutes. If you do that, then you have to stick to the on-field decision. You have to stick to the decision. The penalty did look soft but that’s given anywhere else on the pitch.
“We all needed it. We know the results and performances aren’t good enough. It’s important this club is in the Champions League. It was a huge result for all of us.”
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