Liverpool were stitched up by odd VAR rule; Burnley’s equaliser shouldn’t have stood

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Liverpool fans would be right to be confused as to why Burnley’s equaliser at Anfield stood, after Mo Salah was wrongly flagged for offside at the beginning of the build-up play.

The visitors were given a free-kick after the linesman raised his flag, before both sides stopped for a drinks break in the sub-20ºC heat.

Burnley then hoofed the static ball into the Liverpool half and completely undone the Reds, with Jay Rodriguez finishing off the move to make it 1-1 with just over 20 minutes left.

But it turns out Salah wasn’t offside – a photo shared by Twitter user @Valiant_Virgil after the game shows the Egyptian was actually just onside when a header was sent his way.

Take a look at the photo below:

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Whether the officials realised this after the fact or not was made irrelevant by the drinks break – a disruption in play means VAR can’t intervene.

It would have been the same had the ball went out for a throw-in or corner-kick.

A combination of the players stopping for a scheduled break and VAR’s odd rule meant nothing could be done, but perhaps Burnley’s goal shouldn’t have stood.

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