The officials and VAR again dominated headlines in the Tottenham vs Leeds United clash in north London as it appears the away side was denied a penalty.
Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie pulled down Dominic Calvert-Lewin in what appeared to be a clear penalty offence in favour of Leeds in the capital.
However, VAR intervened, and a penalty was denied as the Leeds striker was deemed offside by the tiniest of margins by the semi-automated system.
But Jamie Carragher insisted during half-time at Leeds that a penalty could have been awarded as VAR ignored a ‘tolerance’ rule that they applied earlier in the season.
Jamie Carragher insists VAR ignored the precedent
The former Liverpool defender insisted that the offside was so tight, he thought VAR would apply their ‘tolerance rule’ and award a penalty to Leeds.
He insisted that they did exactly that earlier in the season when a goal from Florian Wirtz for Liverpool stood after VAR overruled an offside decision from the lineman.
Carragher insisted that the same rule could have easily applied here, given how tight the final offside decision was.
He said on Sky Sports: “It’s tight, the offside. I think they would have given that penalty; that is why VAR looked at it. He has two hands on him at one stage, and then he pulls him down.
“The reason I look at this, semi-automated decision, it went. I go to the Wirtz one at Fulham, where the five centimetre give or take (tolerance rule) came in.
“I think if that is onside then Leeds have a penalty because there is a clear tug on Calvert-Lewis by Udogie.”
The earlier Wirtz decision shows VAR was wrong tonight
Liverpool were trailing 1-0 at Craven Cottage in January when Florian Wirtz found the net in the 57th minute after getting on the end of a touch from Conor Bradley. The assistant referee initially flagged the Germany international for offside.
However, VAR official Andy Madley overturned the decision after using the Premier League’s semi-automated offside technology.
Wirtz benefited from the league’s five-centimetre tolerance, often referred to as the “thicker lines” system, which helped the goal stand.
The call sparked controversy, though, as the TV replays appeared to show Wirtz clearly beyond the last defender.
But the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel backed Madley, saying: “The VAR intervention to award the goal was supported as correct, given the tight margin of the offside call and thicker offside lines used for these incredibly tight calls.”
