Liverpool told VAR made mistake as controversial penalty overturned | Football | Sport

Alexis Mac Allister fell to the floor in the area under a challenge from Willian Pacho that was ultimately ruled not to constitute a foul. Maurizio Mariani pointed to the spot immediately after the Argentine international went down, but was instructed to review the incident once more by VAR.

“We talk about clear and obvious John, every time we talk about the VAR interventions, but when you see the contact on Mac Allister’s foot…and people will say it’s soft, but it’s not wrong – there is a contact,” said Clattenburg on commentary.

“Once the referee gives it, I expect the penalty to be upheld. If he hadn’t give it, I would accept the VAR not to interfere, but once the on-field decision was penalty kick, I would expect it to be given.”

Former Newcastle striker and Amazon Prime pundit Alan Shearer was left astounded that the decision had been reversed, believing that midfielder Mac Allister had positioned himself superbly to earn a foul inside the area.

“I’m surprised as well because Mac Allister does ever so well to try and protect that ball, inviting the challenge in from Pacho,” he said. “And once he tries to get the ball and doesn’t, and does make contact with him, and the referee gives it, I’m really, really surprised he’s overturned that.”

Not everybody shared that sense of surprise. Former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock felt that Mac Allister’s tumble was an ungainly one.

“I didn’t think it was a penalty,” he said on BBC. “Alexis Mac Allister clumsily goes down, there is just a coming together of the two players. Liverpool now has to get back into the tempo of how they have been playing.”

Despite Liverpool’s dominance throughout the second half, they were unable to claw back the two-goal deficit carried over from the first leg. It was PSG who ultimately found the net instead.

Ousmane Dembele struck in the 72nd minute to extend the visitors’ advantage on aggregate. The Frenchman then netted once more in stoppage time, capitalising on Bradley Barcola’s incisive pass to book a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

Warnock insists that PSG were simply operating at a higher level than their Premier League counterparts. “Liverpool threw everything at Paris St-Germain,” he said.

“Yes, PSG have ridden their luck at times, but this is the level that every European team is aspiring to get to. This team is at a different level. They are superb.”