Liverpool came from behind to defeat Brentford 2-1 in west London on Saturday in a game which saw the home side finish with nine players.
Yehor Yarmoluk was given a straight red card just before half-time for headbutting Jeremy Jacquet, and Vitaly Janelt was dismissed for a second yellow in the final moments of the match after fouling Rio Ngumoha.
While the latter decision has prompted a bit of debate, the Ukrainian’s dismissal for his headloss left John Brooks with no choice but to give him his marching orders, even though it took a lengthy VAR intervention for the on-field referee to make his final decision.
Bothroyd unhappy with length of VAR review
Speaking on Sky Sports News‘ Ref Watch on Monday, Jay Bothroyd agreed with the decision to sent off the Brentford midfielder but felt that the VAR review took much longer than necessary for what seemed a clear-cut call to make.
The former Blackburn striker said: “I don’t like seeing this kind of thing but the referees are being consistent. I don’t like the fact it took three minutes. I can look at that after five seconds and say it’s going to be a red card.”
Image via Sky Sports
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Why does VAR have to take so bloody long?
Although the final decision supports the case for VAR being brought into football in the first place, as a clear and obvious error in not sending off Yarmoluk was rectified, the duration of the stoppage is what rankles with fans at stadia and watching from home.
As Bothroyd rightly says, the headbutt from the Brentford midfielder was quite clear even on the first replay, and that ought to have been enough for the officials to reach a definite conclusion rather than dragging out the process for three minutes.
Keith Andrews accused Jacquet of being ‘cute and clever’ and provoking the contact in the incident which saw the Ukrainian sent off (Sky Sports), but really the Bees player only has himself to blame for his inexplicable headloss, which ultimately let his team down in game-changing fashion.
We again call for the sport’s lawmakers to consider a time limit on VAR decisions so that fans, players, coaches and other stakeholders aren’t left so riled by the inexplicable duration of many calls which are referred to the off-site officials.
The interpretation of ‘clear and obvious’ might be subjective, but any indiscretion meeting those criteria ought to be apparent within 40-45 seconds of a review and not be subject to several minutes of a delay.