Man Utd controversy from 2020 proves VAR had power to act

Liverpool were left short-changed in their latest brush with VAR and while the PGMOL has taken full accountability for the fiasco at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, fans still have a lot of questions.

The main question that many have asked is: why couldn't VAR intervene and award Liverpool a legal goal after Luis Diaz had his strike disallowed wrongfully for offside.

On Tuesday, the VAR audio for the incident was released, revealing that the correct decision had been reached but there was a failure to communicate correctly with the on-field officials.

VAR Darren England made no attempt to correct the obvious error that had been committed as play had already been restarted.

However, surely the need to reach the correct decision should trump all else? It would have been embarrassing to award the goal after play had restarted but no more embarrassing than the debacle PGMOL has had to deal with in light of Saturday's farce.

2020 Manchester United controversy reveals precedent

There is precedent for VAR to take on additional responsibility in ensuring the correct on-field decision is reached as an incident from 2020 reveals.

In September 2020, Man United were awarded a penalty against Brighton after full-time despite referee Chris Kavanagh blowing the whistle.

Play was restarted after VAR decided the Red Devils were due a spot kick and with Bruno Fernandes scoring it, United won the game 3-2 in hugely controversial fashion.

Liverpool, who scored a goal from open play, were denied what would have been crucial advantage on the scoreboard.

To compound this misery, Spurs went up the opposite end of the field to score.

There is nothing the PGMOL or the Premier League can do now to make up for this error but the hope is that Liverpool's search for the truth will lead to continued improvement in referee displays.