Former Premier League referee Phil Dowd has explained why Liverpool did not concede a first-half penalty against Port in the Champions League.
The visiting side felt they should have had a spot kick when Alisson’s punch away struck the arm of Trent Alexander-Arnold but the referee waved away the protests and, crucially, the Video Assistant Referee did not flag the incident.
Meanwhile in north London, Tottenham Hotspur did concede a penalty against Manchester City for handball, which Hugo Lloris saved from Sergio Aguero, but questions have been asked as to why one game saw a penalty awarded while the other didn’t.
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Dowd has explained the differences between the two incidents though, identifying why the decisions on the field were made.
“Danny Rose comes in with a challenge, he’s a good distance away from the ball, his arm comes up and correctly, in my opinion, they go to VAR for an on-field review and the penalty is given,” he told BT Sport.
“The Liverpool one, my first reaction was penalty but when you have a look from behind I don’t think so.
"The distance between the two players is 2.2 yards, reaction time is 0.2 seconds. So even if it looks like handball, correctly it’s not awarded.”
VAR was introduced into the Champions League from the group stages of the competition and will become a regular sight for British fans ahead of its addition in next season's Premier League.
