Liverpool’s momentous 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday could’ve been an entirely different story had Phil Foden’s second-half strike not been chalked off by VAR. But the Premier League have since seemingly confirmed that there were two problems with his goal at Anfield.
Foden latched onto a loose ball after Kevin de Bruyne’s low cross into the box and thought he had fired Man City ahead on 54 minutes. But Erling Haaland was adjudged to have brought Fabinho down by pulling his shirt in the build-up, resulting in referee Anthony Taylor ruling out the opener.
Alisson was furious after Taylor had initially allowed the goal to stand, protesting that Haaland had kicked the ball while he was holding it with two hands. And despite VAR’s decision being fueled by the Norwegian striker’s foul on Fabinho, BBC presenter Mark Chapman has claimed his challenge on Alisson would’ve also been deemed illegal.
While presenting Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night, Chapman confirmed that Haaland’s shirt pull wasn’t the only problem identified in the build-up to Foden’s goal. He said: “We were told as well that if it hadn’t been disallowed for the shirt pull, it would have then been disallowed for Haaland’s challenge on Alisson.”
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Guardiola was visibly incensed by the decision on the Anfield touchline in a heated affair that included Jurgen Klopp being sent off. And after full-time, the City boss expressed his frustration with the decision to disallow Foden’s goal.
“The referee came to the coaches [before the match] and said [he will] play on, play on,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “There were a million fouls. But after we scored a goal, he decided it is not play on. This is Anfield. We had [enough] chances. We had some fantastic chances. All the game, we were brave, we played the game we should play, and I don’t have any complaints or regrets over how we have done it.”
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