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OFFICIAL REVIEW: WHY VAR UPGRADED XAVI SIMONS' YELLOW TO A GAME-CHANGING RED CARD
Liverpool takes advantage of red cards for Simons and Romero to beat Spurs. Ekitike and Isak provide the second-half fire.
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Liverpool kept their momentum going and put even more pressure on Thomas Frank with a win against nine-man Tottenham. Xavi Simons getting a red card in the first half really helped Liverpool, and they took advantage to stay unbeaten for the last six games, even if the end was a bit crazy.
Simons got sent off for stepping on Virgil van Dijk's calf in the 33rd minute of a pretty awful first half. Randal Kolo Muani blew the best chance, weakly heading it right at Alisson.
Luckily, things got interesting after halftime when Arne Slot brought on Alexander Isak. A mistake by Cristian Romero let Liverpool in, and Florian Wirtz found Isak, who blasted it in as he got taken out by Micky van de Ven.
Isak got hurt and had to come off, but the goal made the game exciting. Kolo Muani hit the crossbar with a shot that deflected. Minutes later, it was 2-0 when Jeremie Frimpong's cross found Hugo Ekitike, who jumped over Romero and headed it in off the crossbar.
Richarlison came off the bench and scored after Van Dijk missed a kick. But it didn't mean much, as Romero got a second yellow card late in the game. This loss leaves Spurs in 13th place, with only one win in their last eight league games.
1. Simons' Dumb Move
After a boring first half-hour, the crowd finally had something to get excited about—but not in a good way. Simons stepped on Van Dijk's calf. The referee initially gave a yellow card, but then went to the monitor and changed it to a red card.
The Premier League Match Centre said, "After checking with VAR, the ref changed the yellow card to a red for serious foul play." The ref said, “After review, the Tottenham No. 7, with studs, catches the Liverpool player [No. 4] on the calf—it's serious foul play. Red card.”
Gary Neville on Sky Sports said, "Simons wasn't getting there." He digs his studs into Van Dijk's leg. Not smart. Not a good challenge. He's nowhere near the ball. Call it what you want, but it was dumb.
2. Boring and Cautious
The first half wasn't fun to watch. Thomas Frank’s team, already under pressure, played very cautiously, seeming more interested in stopping Liverpool than attacking.
Without Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo, Liverpool had a similar setup, with Arne Slot filling the midfield. Dominik Szoboszlai has been playing in Salah's spot lately, while Wirtz was on the left. This made Liverpool very narrow, and Milos Kerkez and Conor Bradley struggled to push forward from the back.
The stats at halftime revealed how uneventful it was: nine shots that didn't matter much, with the Spurs having 0.44 xG compared to Liverpool's 0.25 xG. Thankfully, the second half had plenty of drama.
3. Kudus Sums Up Spurs
Early in the second half, Spurs had a chance to counterattack. The ball went to Mohammed Kudus, who had space. He turned and passed backwards. The crowd groaned. A few seconds later, he had space again but just stood on the ball. More groans. Kudus then passed it harmlessly out of play while trying to find a teammate making a run. The fans were clearly not happy.
Frank took Kudus off—a £55 million winger who used to be exciting—and put on Brennan Johnson. But his embarrassing few minutes showed what's wrong with the team: no confidence, confused about the plan, and scared to take risks.
4. Liverpool Takes Off
Peter Crouch thought Salah being out might let Slot play Isak and Ekitike together. He was right, but they were only on the field together for less than 10 minutes. Still, it was a glimpse of Liverpool's future.
First, Wirtz slipped Isak in with a great pass. Isak did what he's known for, smashing the shot into the net. But people will be even more excited about Ekitike, especially about how he outmuscled Romero to head in the goal. He’s now got five goals in his last three league games and looks the real deal.
5. Crazy Ending
Spurs looked done for, but then they weren't. Richarlison came off the bench and gave the crowd a boost. He was in the right spot to score after a scramble in the box. Van Dijk missed his kick, giving Richarlison the chance to score. He then pushed Ekitike's neck into the ground while getting the ball out of the net, stirring up trouble.
Romero made things easier for Liverpool by kicking Ibrahima Konate. But Alisson still had to make some saves from Pedro Porro to secure the win, even though they were playing against nine men.
VAR REVIEW: CHELSEA 2-2 BOURNEMOUTH, ESTêVãO PENALTY DRAMA EXPLAINED! WAS IT A FOUL OR A DIVE
Explaining the VAR: How an 11th-minute penalty check at Stamford Bridge saved a point for Chelsea against a resilient Bournemouth.
Every week, the Video Assistant Referee stirs up drama in the Premier League. Let's break down how these calls are made and if they're actually right.
This season, we're digging into the big moments to explain the VAR process and the rules of the game.
What went down: Chelsea's Estêvão was moving into the Bournemouth box, with Antoine Semenyo on his tail. Estêvão went down after some contact with Semenyo. The ref, Barrott, waved off Chelsea's penalty shouts, saying there wasn't a foul. He thought both players made contact naturally as they were running, and Estêvão basically tripped himself.
VAR said, "After looking at it, VAR Pawson suggested Barrott take another look at the monitor for a possible penalty because Semenyo might have tripped Estêvão."
VAR's take: Pawson had to figure out if the contact was just part of the play, like the ref thought, or if Semenyo fouled Estêvão. It was clear Estêvão tripped, but the question was how the contact started.
At first glance, it would be hard for Pawson to disagree with the ref because the main TV angle wasn't clear. But after checking out the sideline and behind views, Pawson saw that Semenyo stepped into Estêvão's path, making enough contact with his leg to cause him to trip.
Pawson told Barrott to check the monitor for a possible penalty. Barrott watched the replays, agreed, and gave Chelsea the penalty.
The call: It was a reasonable VAR call based on today's standards. But it's a borderline case.
Barrott seemed unsure of the monitor and needed some convincing from different angles.
A lot of the time, this kind of contact is just from players running normally, and someone goes down. To give a penalty, there really needs to be a clear foul by the defender. You could say that happened here, but it's a pretty low standard for VAR to get involved.
Chelsea 2-2 AFC Bournemouth
Referee: Sam Barrott
VAR: Craig Pawson
What: VAR check for a foul in the box
When: 11th minute
BREAKING: UNAI EMERY REVEALS THE REAL REASON BEHIND HIS COLD ARTETA HANDSHAKE SNUB NOW
Unai Emery explains why he skipped the post-match handshake as Arsenal’s 4-1 win ends Aston Villa’s 11-game streak at the Emirates.
Unai Emery said he didn't shake Mikel Arteta's hand right after Aston Villa lost at the Emirates Stadium since the Arsenal manager kept him waiting.
This loss stopped Villa's winning streak at 11 games, their first in almost two months.
Villa held their own in the first half, but Arsenal scored early in the second when Gabriel got to the ball before Emi Martinez on a corner.
Martin Zubimendi quickly made it 2-0, and Leandro Trossard scored a third goal a little after an hour had passed.
Soon after entering the pitch, Gabriel Jesus scored, making it 4-0. Ollie Watkins was able to respond by tapping in a goal late in the game after Donyell Malen's nice play.
After the game, Emery waited to shake Arteta's hand, but he went to the locker room since Arteta was still celebrating with his team.
It’s easy to see. I like to do things fast,” Emery said when asked about why he didn’t shake Arteta’s hand.
“I shake hands, then I go to the dressing room with my players and coaches. I was waiting.
“Arteta was busy with his coaches, so I went inside. It’s not a big deal for me.”
About the match, Emery commented, “We played great in the first half, and things were going our way. We had corners and defended well. We didn’t let them get a corner in the first half.
“We felt good, but we let in the first goal in the second half. Onana getting hurt didn’t help since he’s important for set pieces and in the midfield.
“We didn’t quit, and we kept playing hard. We scored one goal and almost scored more. Arsenal is the best team in the league and should win the title.
“I’m not sure which day it is since we’ve played Arsenal twice already, and we still have to play Nottingham. But I’m happy with our goals and how we're trying to attain them.
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