‘Deliberate play’ - Ex-referee’s clear verdict on controversial Liverpool VAR decisions vs Aston Villa

Many people are still discussing Liverpool’s match against Aston Villa at the weekend and the major VAR calls that occured. Cody Gakpo was denied a goal that could have kept his side’s top four hopes alive, and Tyrone Mings evaded a red card after a nasty challenge on the Dutchman.

The Villa defender flew into a challenge on Gakpo in the first half and struck his chest with his foot, which left visible cuts from his studs. Mings was only given a yellow and he remained on the pitch, although there were plenty of complaints over it being red card offence.

Gakpo popped up with a goal shortly after but it was chalked off after Virgil van Dijk was ruled offside, despite it coming off Villa’s Ezri Konsa in the build up. A lengthy VAR check determined it to have not been deliberate play, therefore making Liverpool’s centre-back offside still.

Former referee Keith Hackett is one of the latest to weigh in on the decisions and he has posted his verdict on social media.

“This was a red card challenge by Mings,” he wrote on Twitter before adding: “In my opinion, the goal should not have been ruled out for offside. The opponent made a deliberate play.”

Dermot Gallagher, who appeared on the latest episode of Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, was in agreement about the red card and said Mings was lucky to still be on the pitch. However, he was confident that the decision to disallow Gakpo’s goal was correct.

“In law, Gakpo’s goal shouldn’t have stood, the officials have got it correct. The way it is written, the referees are in a pickle with it. This is a very tough law to interpret. It’s all about if the player makes a genuine attempt to play the ball. Does he go to block the ball, does it strike him?

“A block is a block. A genuine attempt to play the ball is to take the ball under control, clear it for a corner or to clear it up field.”