Mark Clattenburg believes VAR incorrectly denied Liverpool’s late penalty against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has suggested that VAR was incorrect in denying Liverpool a late penalty against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

The clash between Jurgen Klopp‘s and Pep Guardiola‘s juggernauts was billed as a potential title decider, and while the draw leaves that question open, both teams put up a fantastic performance at Anfield. City dominated the first half, taking the lead thanks to a close-range shot from John Stones.
However, the Reds came back and equalised inside two minutes of the second half when Alexis MacAllister converted a penalty after Darwin Nunez was fouled by Ederson. Liverpool kept pressing and believed they should have had another penalty deep into stoppage time when Jeremy Doku caught Mac Allister with a high kick.
Referee Michael Oliver did not give a penalty, although VAR determined that Doku had played the ball. At full-time, Klopp contested the decision, arguing that all football fans were aware it was a penalty.

In his Daily Mail column, Clattenburg, who is currently a referee advisor for Nottingham Forest, blasted VAR for failing to give Liverpool a late penalty. “Liverpool should have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester City but this is the problem in the Premier League right now – referees are making mistakes in matches and not being helped by their VARs,” he said in a post on his blog.

“The ball bounces up.” Alexis MacAllister approaches it. “Jeremy Doku‘s foot is high.”He hits Mac Allister in the chest.”Without the box, this would have resulted in a free kick every day of the week. “Just because it happened inside the box doesn’t mean it’s a clean challenge when Mac Allister is left to play connect the dots on his chest Monday morning.”Referee Michael Oliver missed it in real time at the end of a long and intense contest, so it was up to VAR Stuart Attwell to step in. This is where the disappointment lies; we’ve seen similar incidents this weekend where Stockley Park should have notified their teammates on the pitch that they had missed a penalty or earned a red card, but did not.