“VAR is confusing,” Twitter Reacts as Sadio mane scores dubious winner in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over West Ham


“VAR is confusing,” Twitter Reacts as Sadio mane scores dubious winner in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over West Ham

Liverpool pulled off a precariously close 1-0 victory against West Ham at Anfield, courtesy of Sadio Mane’s goal to keep themselves in contention of the Premier League title. The victory brought them within 3 points of league leaders, Manchester City who have a match in hand.

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West Ham had the better of the chances in the second half but failed to find the crucial goal as a highly entertaining match panned out in favour of the home side. Despite both teams having plenty of chances, neither could utilise them except for Liverpool’s Mane, who scored the goal through a dubious VAR call inside the first half of the match.

Liverpool are within 3 points of Manchester City in the Premier League table

Liverpool celebrate their goal
Liverpool celebrate their goal

The goal came in the 27th minute of the match after Naby Keita lobbed the ball in for Alexander Arnold down the right flank. The English full-back’s cross/shot evaded everyone inside the box and fell onto the path of Sadio Mane, who tapped the ball into the net with consummate ease.

After the goal, there was an extensive VAR check, to check whether Mane was onside while the pass was played onto his path from Alexander-Arnold. The check went on for a couple of minutes, and the goal was eventually awarded to the Senegalese forward.

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Sadio Mane's goal
Sadio Mane’s goal

However, the decision to award the goal flummoxed many football fans on Twitter. The fans drew parallels from the recent Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool, where Romelu Lukaku had a goal chalked off for offside.

On close introspection, one would find that the two images were very similar, in regards to the positioning of the two strikers and fans have called out VAR for being inconsistent with its decision making.

Twitter draw out parallels from Romelu Lukaku’s offside to Sadio Mane’s goal

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