John Brooks had a lot on his plate during Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield.The 34-year-old awarded Liverpool two penalties in the opening 45 minutes, changing his mind for the second after VAR suggested Robert Sanchez, who Jamie Carragher criticised, won the ball before smashing into Curtis Jones.
Brooks also had a decision to make on whether Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty as well, after Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to sweep Jadon Sancho’s right leg from underneath him.
Liverpool escaped that incident unscathed, eventually securing a 2-1 win to move ahead of Manchester City and to the top of the Premier League.Ultimately, Brooks did not give Chelsea a penalty, although there was one major incident that went against the Blues which everybody seemed to miss.
VAR missed handball from Curtis Jones before Levi Colwill foul
As you will have seen, it was Levi Colwill who committed the foul for Liverpool’s penalty – which was converted by Mohamed Salah.
It was a definite foul, as the Liverpool No.17 quickly got his body between the Chelsea No.6 and the ball after a shot from Salah ricocheted kindly into his path.
However – before Colwill made contact – that shot from the Egypt international actually struck Jones on the hand, a moment that VAR should have taken into account as it was in the same passage of play. official website even states: “For penalties awarded, the VAR will check for any infringements by the attacking team in the attacking possession phase (APP) that led to the penalty as well as the incident for which the penalty was awarded.”
Of course, Jones was not looking at the ball when Salah shot, while it was also travelling at some speed when striking his hand, although by the letter of the law, handball should have been awarded by Brooks before the penalt∞y.
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