Dermot Gallagher believes that Liverpool were on the wrong end of a VAR ‘mistake’ in their 4-2 win over Bournemouth on Friday night.
The 2025/26 Premier League season got off to a highly eventful start at Anfield, with new Reds signing Hugo Ekitike among the goalscorers and Cherries winger Antoine Semenyo sadly being the recipient of shameful racist abuse from one individual inside the stadium.
In the first 15 minute of the match, there was another controversial incident of a different nature as Marcos Senesi appeared to deliberately handle the ball as the last defender in what looked like a clear-cut case of denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Rather than a red card being dished out to the Argentine, though, Bournemouth were actually awarded a free kick, and VAR didn’t intervene at any stage.
Gallagher: VAR acted too quickly in dismissing Senesi handball
Gallagher appeared on Sky Sports News on Monday morning for the first Ref Watch of the new season, and he believes that Michael Oliver in the booth at Stockley Park was too hasty in dismissing the possibility of a sending-off offence being committed.
The former top-flight official said: “I think this is a really interesting situation. The VAR, for me, has looked at it too quickly and cleared it. I think he’s seen the ball fly up off Senesi and has not watched the second part.
“He’s seen the ball hit the elbow off the knee and stopped looking. He hasn’t looked for the second swipe. If he sends the referee to the screen, the referee has all options. He probably sends Senesi off because Huge Ekitike is going to be away. The only doubt is, is it too far from goal? But this is a class forward.
“If it goes to the screen he would have been sent off. It was a mistake and fortunately it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.”
Gallagher correct with his assessment
While the ball initially ricocheted off Senesi’s arm in an unintentional contact, the Bournemouth defender then clearly extended his hand towards the ball when it bounced back up in what looked a most deliberate action.
We agree with Gallagher’s assessment of the incident – we don’t want referees being sent over to the pitchside monitor too frivolously, but in this instance it would’ve been wholly justified, and Taylor may well have judged it differently had he been afforded the opportunity to watch a replay.
That moment was understandably overshadowed by the regrettable abuse towards Semenyo, whose response to the racist slur was incredibly mature and articulate, although it doesn’t mean that we should simply dismiss it out of hand because of how the match eventually transpired.
Oliver’s oversight didn’t cost Liverpool on this occasion, but similar negligence could well do so in the future; and if it’s not the champions, it could be another Premier League team at the wrong end of an abdication of duty.
Hopefully this won’t be another season of endless discussion about the standard of officiating in the English top flight, but from what we’ve seen in recent years, we won’t be holding our breath for any lasting improvement.
It’s Oliver on FAR nuff said
Referees are always the 13th man against Liverpool, I’m not surprised by the action of the referee, ‘though it came pretty earlier than expected.
Of course it will, 15min into the new season and a too obvious error by VAR has set the tone for the coming year. Every pundit watching knew it was at least handball and free kick. Consistency is what we want and a less obvious hand ball will be given by the same ref/var. wasn’t Oliver the ref that denied on equally obvious penalty when Odegard handled in the area, another movement of hand to ball. Is it a coincidence that it is against Liverpool ?
The referee should be banned from officiating another premier league game until end of the season game this should be his punishment for being so stupid and not correctly following new rules so useless cunt Michael Oliver should be punished by putting him in the championship league for rest of the season until this ultra stupid clown of referee who already gives other referee’s a bad name really realises he should not be referring the game in such a bad manner!
It has been Oliver’s pattern so, I’m not surprised.
Well I’m sure it affected the goal difference.
Its the first game of the new season..I dread what this season will be like for Liverpool. I hope the higher ups have taken note.
Its Oliver so what else is new for whatever reason he’s got something against Liverpool.
And I thought that he is banned from referring duty.
He should be totally banned
It has been Oliver’s pattern so, I’m not surprised.
The usual Michael Oliver treatment to Liverpool. Dermot Gallagher is wrong & trying to cover up the official’s error (?) by saying they did not see the whole incident. The VAR officials did in fact see the whole incident as they said the infringement occurred too far away from goal. So , remember Lewis Skelly was sent off for a last man infringement deep in the opponent’s half. Kindly explain the difference .?
Anybody who knows anything about football must know that Oliver is has Ben as a nine Bob note when it comes to football decisions, he does everything he can to make sure it helps Manchester city in the last five years. He’s given eight red cards to Arsenal four red cards to Liverpool and no red cards to Man city how strange is that he’s the worst official in the Premier league And should be sacked and Howard Webb is just as bad. They’re all on the Saudi payroll.
VAR is not working in the manner intended :( it actually creates more clear and obvious errors than it corrects .