VAR curse continue as fears of injuries mount due to delays

Referee Craig Pawson starred in his own FA Cup video nasty as VAR confusion reigned at Anfield on Saturday night.

Pawson disallowed a first-half Craig Dawson effort that would have put West Brom 3-1 up after Premier League official Andre Marriner ruled from a London office that Gareth Barry had strayed offside.

Pawson then consulted the TV screen again for Jake Livermore's challenge on Mo Salah. He took the nearly four minutes to award the penalty.

Roberto Firmino missed from the spot - and the Baggies went on to claim a fifth-round berth thanks to Jay Rodriguez's double and Joel Matip's own-goal.

Every decision taken by the officials was proved to be correct. But the new technology left players, fans and both bosses confused and in total disbelief at the time-consuming process.

Delay - and stoppage time issues

Fans were baffled for the most part by the incidents at Anfield on Saturday night.

Despite the decisions being correct, it led to the encounter being labelled a farce.

The decision for the Liverpool penalty took around four or five minutes - but there was seemingly not enough added time played.

Jurgen Klopp said: "Did it disrupt the flow? Which flow?! Of course it will change things. Is it nice that West Brom celebrate a goal and then someone tells them it's not a goal?

"But that's what we always wanted, that if a goal should be disallowed, it should be disallowed.

Keeping players warm

West Brom boss Alan Pardew raised his concerns over the stoppage in the game that could lead to injuries.

"You're going from high tempo work rate to nothing. We had a hamstring just after that," he said.

"Now as a coach, we have to change, we're going to get our players to do a warm-up in that situation. The Dawson goal would never be disallowed in any game without the system (VAR). It's marginal, really marginal."

Fans in the ground baffled

While those watching at home could see what was going on, those inside Anfield weren't so lucky.

Fans were left baffled by the number of decisions being referred.

The incidents were set to be shown on the big screen at the Emirates during Arsenal's win over Chelsea in midweek, but none required VAR intervention.

A similar system is used in rugby and tennis, and at least keeps fans involv

Referee view

Former official Chris Foy believes the system will take some getting used to.

"It takes time bit it is about getting the decision right," he said on BT Sport.

"Four minutes is a long time but it is only the sixth time it has been used in this country."