Liverpool were robbed of a penalty against Arsenal. That is no longer just Anfield's view. The Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled that Jurrien Timber's pull on Alexander Isak should have been given, and that VAR got it wrong by leaving it alone.
Arsenal won that game 1-0 on 1 November, Kai Havertz scoring the only goal. The incident came in the 21st minute, with Arsenal already ahead, when Isak just failed to get his head on a Bradley Barcola cross. Replays showed Timber had a grip on his shirt.
How the panel voted
Referee Andy Madley waved play on and VAR Stuart Attwell checked and cleared it. The five-person panel overturned both judgements, though not unanimously. It voted 4:1 that a penalty should have been given on the field, and 3:2 that the VAR should have stepped in and sent Madley to the monitor.
So it was not close on the main question.
The two dissenters pointed to the "subjectivity in assessing impact", which is a polite way of saying it was hard to tell how much the pull actually stopped Isak. The majority called it a clear and obvious error. All five agreed Timber should not have been sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Iraola's "you have to dive" complaint
What made this one sting was that Isak stayed on his feet. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said as much to Match of the Day straight after the game, and he did not hold back. There was a clear grab of the shirt, he said, and Isak was about to head at goal. If he had gone down, the penalty would have been given "100%".
Then the bit that stuck: "The answer is you have to dive. If you don't dive they won't call it." It is a cynical line, and probably a fair one. The panel's ruling arguably proves his point. An honest striker got nothing, and the only consolation is a vote ten days later.
A second error from the same weekend
The panel also found another VAR mistake from 31 October. Ipswich should have had a penalty against Hull City when Nobel Mendy held back Dara O'Shea at a corner. Peter Bankes missed it on the pitch and VAR Neil Davies took no action. It was 0-0 at the time, Ipswich went ahead soon after, and the game finished 2-2.
None of this changes a result. Arsenal keep their three points from Anfield and Isak, who has seven goals in nine league games this season, keeps his reputation for staying upright. Whether that reputation is worth anything to Liverpool is now an open question.
Match facts: Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal, Anfield, 1 November 2026. Goal: Kai Havertz. Incident: 21st minute, Timber on Isak. Referee Andy Madley, VAR Stuart Attwell. KMI Panel: 4:1 penalty should have been given, 3:2 VAR should have intervened, 5:0 no red card. Source: BBC Sport (Dale Johnson).
0 Comments