Not even 20 minutes into the Premier League season and there’s already been a controversial moment that will surely be talked about incessantly.
Liverpool and Bournemouth remained scoreless into the season opener at Anfield 13 minutes into the match. Then, as the Reds booted the ball forward looking for Hugo Ekitiké, Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi almost made a calamitous mistake.
The Argentine defender was the last man in defense, misjudged the bounce of the ball and miscontroled it, putting it on a plate for Ekitiké to capture. In a clear act of desperation, as Ekitiké looked set to control the ball and go free on goal, Senesi appeared to deliberately bat the ball away from the attacker with his fingertips.
VAR says no, but @Carra23 was convinced that was handball 🧐 pic.twitter.com/kS8hOEwn7s
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 15, 2025
Liverpool players immediately noticed what had occurred and hounded match referee Anthony Taylor for missing the call and urged him to have the action reviewed by VAR. However, VAR confirmed Taylor’s original ruling, leaving many scratching heir heads.
NBC Sports commetator Jon Champion relayed the following message from the Premier League Match Centre on the broadcast saying it was determined as, “a possible goal scoring opportunity, but not an obvious goal scoring opportunity.”
Premier League Match Centre released the following statement bellow:
“The referee’s call of no red card to Senesi was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action deemed not to be a clear handball offence nor denial of a goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO), due to the distance from goal.”
Liverpool would go on to take a 1–0 lead later in the first half with Ekitiké’s first league goal as a Red.
This is a developing story, follow every minute of the match here.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Marcos Senesi Was Not Guilty of Handball in Liverpool’s Clash With Bournemouth.
