Sky Sports panel slam time taken over VAR Liverpool penalty but agree on key decision

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher and former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock both believe Jarrel Quansah's tackle on Jean-Philippe Mateta was a penalty at the weekend, despite the VAR controversy.

Liverpool's win over Crystal Palace was not without its major VAR talking points, as we saw Jordan Ayew dismissed for a red card and two contentious penalty decisions across the entertaining 2-1 win for Jurgen Klopp's side.

The Crystal Palace striker was given a second yellow card in the second half after a trip on Harvey Elliott, as he was adjudged to have stopped a counter-attack and promptly awarded a second caution. Furthermore, Palace thought they had been awarded a penalty in the first half but VAR intervened on Will Hughes, who was penalised for a foul on Wataru Endo in the build-up.

However, the biggest talking point was the penalty that Quansah gave away in the second half. Initially, there was nothing given by referee Andy Madley and play resumed, but 106 seconds after the alleged foul he was sent to the screen to check it again before awarding the penalty.

There was a similar incident in the game between Aston Villa and Arsenal at the weekend which saw Douglas Luiz get away with kicking through Gabriel Jesus in the box; Quansah's foul on Mateta wasn't protested by the players at the time and left the viewing audience confused when it was announced they were checking for a penalty nearly two minutes later.

The Sky Sports Ref Watch panel discussed the incident, with former referee Dermot Gallagher claiming the longer the check went on, the more likely Madley was to give the penalty: "When I saw it live, I didn't think it was penalty. But when they say they're looking at a penalty and you see the replay, then you can't unsee it can you?"

Former Aston Villa and Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock raised a counter-point, as he questioned the time spent on the decision in relation to the 'clear and obvious' debate that goes hand-in-hand with VAR decisions.

"Right and wrong comes into it, clear and obvious doesn't come into it for me. Then you're looking at then thinking 'it's a penalty' - it's exactly like the Aston Villa penalty. If anything, the Villa penalty is more of a penalty. I think he [Quansah] does kick through but we're after that consistency.

"It's not a clear and obvious error is it? If you turned around and said VAR is all about right and wrong, which we've said all along should be the case, then yes it's a penalty. But so is the Arsenal penalty, if it is about right and wrong."