Liverpool have finally had it in writing: the penalty they shouted for at Anfield on November 1 should have been given. The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel ruled on Wednesday that Jurrien Timber's shirt pull on Alexander Isak in Arsenal's 1-0 win was a penalty — and that VAR should have stepped in when the referee did not.
Four to one: a penalty missed twice
The incident came in the 21st minute, with Arsenal already leading through Kai Havertz's 16th-minute goal. Isak attacked a Bradley Barcola cross and was pulled back by Timber as he tried to reach it. Referee Andy Madley waved play on, and VAR Stuart Attwell checked and cleared the decision.
The panel disagreed on both counts. It voted 4-1 that a penalty should have been awarded on the field, and 3-2 that Attwell should have sent Madley to the pitchside monitor because the miss was a clear and obvious error, according to Sky Sports and Reuters. The one panellist against a penalty felt the holding was short-lived and lacked clear impact on Isak, while two panellists argued the subjectivity of judging that impact meant the VAR threshold had not been met.
There were limits to Liverpool's vindication. The panel unanimously agreed Timber's challenge was not a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and it also unanimously backed the decision not to send off Noni Madueke for his clash with Alexis Mac Allister, judging the contact negligible.
Isak stayed up — and that became the story
The uncomfortable part of this verdict is why the penalty was not given. Isak stayed on his feet, and Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola said afterwards that the striker would probably have won the penalty had he gone to ground — a lesson he admitted he would pass on.
"The Isak one is a clear penalty. We can all see that he holds the t-shirt," Iraola said. Asked whether he would tell Isak to go down next time, he replied: "Yes, definitely."
Virgil van Dijk made the same point from a different angle, asking why a player should have to complain when dozens of cameras cover every incident. Mikel Arteta, for his part, said he had not watched the incident back and offered no comment.
Across the season so far, the panel has examined 196 key incidents, finding the correct on-field decision in 86 per cent of cases — a figure that rises to 97 per cent after VAR intervention. This one fell into the small minority VAR was created to catch, and missed.
What it does to Liverpool's season
None of this changes the table. Arsenal's win stands — as our full-time report from Anfield recorded, it took them top and ended Liverpool's long unbeaten home run in this fixture — and there is no mechanism to hand back points ten days later.
What it does change is the pressure around Liverpool's restart. Reuters notes Liverpool sit 10th in the Premier League and host Manchester United on November 22 after the international break. A penalty at 1-0 down in the 21st minute would not have guaranteed a result, but it was a chance to change the shape of a match — and a season — that has since drifted. Isak did at least get back on the scoresheet in the win at Crystal Palace last weekend, but Liverpool need a run, not another hard-luck story.
For Arsenal, the verdict is an embarrassment for the officials rather than a stain on the win itself: they defended a lead for more than an hour at Anfield, and no panel can retroactively award the penalty now.
Beyond the Final Whistle: a system that only punishes honesty is a broken one. Isak was fouled, stayed up, and got nothing — while his own manager now says the lesson is to fall. When the official review admits the referee and the VAR both got it wrong, the problem is not one shirt pull at Anfield; it is a process that tells every striker in the league that going down is smarter than playing on.
Should a forward have to hit the floor to win a foul — or should VAR simply be braver? Have your say in the comments.
