Neil Mellor believes it’s a good job VAR is currently in place in the Premier League following one incident during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the weekend.
With the Sky Blues leading through Erling Haaland’s effort in the first half, the hosts were pushing for a second as the clocked ticked past the hour mark at the Etihad.
City midfielder Rodri tried his luck from outside the area but his effort was deflected wide after the ball struck Ryan Gravenberch on the back of his leg.
Rodri, joined by a number of his teammates, confronted the referee gesturing that the ball struck our No. 38 on the arm and therefore claiming a penalty – something which had ex-Red Mellor thankful for VAR as he took to X to comment on the incident this evening.
I’m no VAR fan, but if top players like Rodri are going to start claiming penalties for things like this and put pressure on officials, I can see why we might need it!
Not even close to a handball! 65th minute at 1-0#ReviewShow #LFCTV #MCILIV #LiverpoolFC pic.twitter.com/iLAJpvvOYj— Neil Mellor (@NeilMellor33) November 27, 2023
VAR will have of course reviewed the incident but it will have only taken one look to see that the referee’s decision to award a corner was the correct one.
It’s rather bizarre that the City players could even claim it hit Gravenberch’s hand when it was nowhere near but we’re not overly surprised to see them asking the question to the referee.
We didn’t necessarily have VAR to thank on this occasion but we can certainly see where Mellor is coming from.
Had the referee awarded a penalty, the technology would’ve been used to ensure the right decision was made.