Former ref Mark Clattenburg puts VAR on blast for massive Liverpool v Manchester City error

On Sunday, the Premier League witnessed another case of gross incompetence when on-field referee Michael Oliver and a room full of VAR technicians failed to award a 98th minute penalty to Liverpool.

Manchester City were the beneficiaries of yet another failure from the PGMOL's referees to officiate a Liverpool game properly.

It's not (close to) the first time and it (definitely) won't be the last time either.

When Jeremy Doku planted his right boot into Alexis Mac Allister's chest and arm, the only logical conclusion should have been to award a penalty to Liverpoool.

It was wave away, however, and the Reds were wrongfully deprived of the chance to win the match 2-1 and take the three points.

Instead, the points were shared and Arsenal leapfrogged Liverpool to go to the top of Premier League table.

It's not just salty Liverpool fans that believe it was a penalty either with former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg writing about it in his column for the Daily Mail.

Mark Clattenburg explains why Liverpool SHOULD have been awarded a penalty

Clattenburg, who was a referee in the Premier League between 2004 and 2017, has made it clear and obvious for current officials to see their error.

He writes: "Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester City but this is the problem in the Premier League right now – referees are making mistakes in matches and not being helped by their VARs.

"The ball bounces up. Alexis Mac Allister moves towards it. Jeremy Doku’s foot is high. He catches Mac Allister in the chest.

"Outside of the box, this would have resulted in a free-kick, every day of the week. Just because it happened inside the box does not suddenly transform it into a clean challenge when Mac Allister might be left playing connect the dots on his chest on Monday morning.

"Referee Michael Oliver missed it in real-time at the end of an exhausting and exhilarating contest and so it was on VAR Stuart Attwell to intervene. This is where the frustration lies – we have seen similar incidents this weekend where Stockley Park should have told their colleagues on the ground that they had missed a penalty or a red card but didn’t."

What did Jurgen Klopp have to say about the mistake?

Speaking to the press after the thrilling encounter between Liverpool and City, Jurgen Klopp was asked about the controversial penalty decision.

He replied: “This situation on all positions on the pitch is 100% a foul and it’s a yellow card.

“He hit the ball but he can only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball is not there, he kills him.

"It’s as easy as that. It’s a penalty for all football people on the planet.”

My thoughts

I'm tired.

I'm tired of referees getting things wrong.

I'm tired of VAR pretending it's offering any value beyond getting offsides consistently correct.

Even then, that's technology and not really the refs themselves.

There will always be subjectivity in football but not awarding a penalty for studs into the chest in the box is just embarrassing for the PGMOL and the Premier League.

Liverpool were issued an apology for the Luis Diaz drama at Spurs early in the season but this is even more costly.

In that instance, the Reds had most of the season to make up for the disgraceful officiating but now, even if the PGMOL found the humility to apologise again, Jurgen Klopp has just 10 games to return his team to the top of the table.

Fortunately, Manchester City and Arsenal face each other in the next round of Premier League fixtures.