“Gifted the title already” – Fans react as Southampton boss calls out VAR mistake in 3-2 loss to Liverpool

Southampton boss Russell Martin vexed with penalty which was not awarded to the Saints after collision with Liverpool goalkeeper.

“Gifted the title already” – Fans react as Southampton boss calls out VAR mistake in 3-2 loss to Liverpool

Mohamed Salah and Russell Martin, image courtesy: X

It was a brilliant battle of ninety minutes between Liverpool and Southampton, where the former eventually emerged victorious, courtesy of a penalty in the 83rd minute. Despite no complaints about the penalty, Southampton boss Russell Martin said that the Saints should have had a spot-kick too when they were 2-1 up.

Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring for Liverpool. However, Adam Armstrong restored the parity for Southampton while Mateus Fernandes blasted home a second in the 56th minute. Then a twin strike from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool secure a victory. Russell Martin believes that Southampton should have had a penalty when Armstrong collided with Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

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We should have had a penalty on Adam Armstrong. I don’t know what they will say but VAR went to have a look at it. If the goalkeeper comes out and Adam is trying to play the ball and misses the ball and affects his run, at that point it’s a foul. My definition is it is a foul. It’s given as handball after the contact by Adam. But my understanding is it was a penalty.

Russell Martin said in the post-match conference

In the post-match presser, Martin also said that he was okay with the fact that Liverpool scored brilliant goals considering the kind of firepower that they bring to the tournament. However, he felt pretty let down by his team’s defence. 

Martin openly admitted that it was poor defending that let to the Saints conceding all the three goals. He also said that he was happy with the overall performance of the team considering that Liverpool is one of the best teams in the league.

Here is what X had to say about the penalty not being awarded to Southampton

Fans took to X and opened up about their frustration with the decision made by the referee about the penalty not given to Southampton. A few believed that the Saints were “1000 percent” robbed and the title should be given to Liverpool already. There were other fans that believed that it was the right decision to not award the penalty to the Reds.

Southampton
Liverpool, image courtesy: X

There were a few funny comments as well, which stated that maybe Southampton should look more at the penalty that they got that shouldn’t have been awarded in the first place. There were also remarks about how VAR has had its fair share of challenges. Others said that Russell Martin was also right because he was not holding back with his remark on VAR.

Southampton’s recent form has been a major concern for Russell Martin, as they lost two matches in a row. They went down against the Wolves in the last game, being defeated by 2-0. Despite getting a couple of wins midway against Stoke City in the Carabao Cup and Everton, the Saints continue to struggle in the ongoing edition of the Premier League. They will be up against Brighton next Saturday, hoping to return to winning ways.