Liverpool went in at half-time against Brentford with a one-goal deficit but a one-player surplus after Yehor Yarmolyuk was sent off in first-half stoppage time.
The Reds ought to have broken the deadlock through Bradley Barcola in the 20th minute, only for the Frenchman to miss when through on goal, and he was made to pay for that moment as Keane Lewis-Potter headed the home side in front shortly before the interval.
There was plenty for refeee John Brooks and VAR to pore through in the closing minutes of the first half, with Yarmolyuk getting away with a clear foul on Florian Wirtz inside the penalty area and the visitors having a spot kick overturned as Dango Ouattara was deemed to have not fouled Alexis Mac Allister.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Why Liverpool weren’t awarded a penalty for Yarmolyuk headbutt
In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time, the Brentford midfielder headbutted Jeremy Jacquet off the ball as Liverpool prepared to take a corner kick, with the incident initially going unnoticed by the on-field officials.
However, TV replays showed the contact clearly, and when Brooks was called over to the pitchside VAR monitor, he didn’t take long to change his decision to a straight red card for the Ukrainian.
As explained by Sky Sports, although the incident occurred inside the penalty area, the Reds didn’t get a spot kick as the play hadn’t restarted at the time, with the match resuming with the corner kick after a delay of several minutes.
Yarmolyuk had already gotten away with one before then
By the letter of the law, the decision from Brooks was correct, although it adds to Liverpool’s frustration that Jacquet could be taken out inside the penalty area without a spot kick being given.
Yarmolyuk had already gotten away with one for impeding Wirtz inside the box a few minutes later but somehow escaping without sanction, but he only has himself to blame for his petulant headbutt on the Reds’ number 5.
Brentford boss Keith Andrews won’t be thanking the 22-year-old, either, with that moment of madness leaving his team a player short for the second half (unless one of the LFC players were to follow him to an early bath).
VAR comes in for a lot of criticism among football fans, but this was one instance of it being used in the manner for which it was intended by detecting a clear and obvious error by Brooks in not spotting the headbutt when it happened.
At the time of writing, Liverpool have partially exploited the one-man advantage courtesy of Victor Munoz’s equaliser just after the hour mark.