Dermot Gallagher makes his feelings clear on Liverpool-Man City VAR controversy

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher defended the decision not to send off Marc Guehi for a challenge on Mohamed Salah during Liverpool's defeat to Manchester City

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has offered his opinion(Image: Sky Sports)

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher expressed sympathy for Craig Pawson following Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester City, backing the decision not to dismiss Marc Guehi.

The clash was not without its contentious moments, as Dominik Szoboszlai received a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring chance in the dying minutes. Earlier in the match, Mohamed Salah was brought down in a comparable situation, yet Guehi escaped with merely a yellow card.

The Hungarian will be absent for the midweek fixture at Sunderland, but the match was dominated by further video assistant referee (VAR) controversy. In the final stages, Szoboszlai was dismissed for pulling back Erling Haaland as they chased Rayan Cherki's long-distance strike, with Haaland tripping the Liverpool midfielder as the ball crossed the line.

Pawson, however, consulted the monitor and determined the goal should be chalked off, awarding City a free-kick on the edge of the area and showing a red card to the 25-year-old.

The ruling left Pep Guardiola baffled, while Gary Neville questioned the integrity of the sport. Sky Sports' Ref Watch examined the pivotal incidents from the match, though it failed to address Liverpool's late penalty appeals involving a foul on Federico Chiesa.

Gallagher said: "Do you want your rant, and I'll bring sanity back? It's really, really intriguing. Watch the referee, he sees the foul and lets play continue, but Szoboszlai gets fouled. The referee sees this one, but he doesn't see this one (Haaland on Szoboszlai) because O'Reilly blocks his path.

Liverpool lost to Manchester City on Sunday(Image: Getty Images)

"Without doubt, Szoboszlai will argue he's been fouled, wants a free-kick, the VAR points out to the referee that he can't give a goal because it's a foul, so he can go back to the original foul, and the original foul stops Haaland having a goalscoring opportunity. It's a red card.

"He denied Haaland, didn't he? It was Cherki who shot, it wasn't Haaland, but he denies Haaland because he's on the run, he pulls him back.

"I feel for the referee in this situation, he arcs his run, O'Reilly gets in his way, if he saw the second foul and blows, the ball hasn't gone in the back of the net, they go back and send Haaland off, it's job done. The situation is, it ends up in the net, Szoboszlai is fouled, there's no doubt about that, and you have to default back to the original."

Former Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd shared the same view and raised doubts about whether Salah should have shown more resilience against Guehi's challenge, suggesting the Egyptian went to ground too easily.

He said: "I completely agree - if you look at Salah as well, he could have been stronger and stayed on his feet. I think he thinks he was actually in the penalty area, and that's why he went down easily. I think Dias would have come across.

"It's a possible goalscoring opportunity, not obvious. To be honest, knowing how Salah plays, I think he would have took a touch inside and finish it. I think it's the right outcome, it's not an obvious goalscoring opportunity."

Earlier in the match, prior to Szoboszlai's stunning strike to open the scoring, Salah was played through only to be pulled back by Guehi, with the former Crystal Palace defender shown a yellow card.

Gallagher believed the incident fell short of denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, arguing that Ruben Dias was providing cover and suggesting that Salah was "happy" to take the foul rather than attempting to score.

He added: "I think it's not obvious that's why it goes from a red to a yellow card, it's a foul, outside the penalty area. I think Mo Salah is quite happy to receive the foul, he goes down, Dias is coming across, he's very fast, I think it goes from obvious to possible, and that's why a yellow had been awarded."