Dermot Gallagher explains his ‘theory’ behind VAR decision in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final loss | OneFootball

Dermot Gallagher has explained his ‘theory’ regarding one VAR decision in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle on Sunday.

The Magpies were leading 1-0 when, early in the second half, Alexander Isak turned the ball into the Reds’ net from close range, but the goal was disallowed after a review deemed that Bruno Guimaraes was offside and impeding Caoimhin Kelleher’s line of vision.

The Swedish striker wouldn’t be denied for much longer as he doubled his team’s lead in the 52nd minute with a header from a Jacob Murphy cross, and that turned out to be the winner as Federico Chiesa netted a stoppage time consolation for Arne Slot’s side.

Gallagher explains ‘theory’ behind disallowed goal

Gallagher was revieving a variety of incidents from the game at Wembley on Sky Sports‘ Ref Watch segment on Monday morning, and he outlined why he thought the officials made the right decision to ultimately disallow what would otherwise have been Isak’s first goal in the final.

The former top-flight referee explained: “If you watch sideways on, Kelleher has to go around Guimaraes. I have a theory: if a player is so close to that goalkeeper in the six-yard area, he has to be in the goalkeeper’s vision. Kelleher has to go around him. By going around him, he loses all sight.

“He does make the save, but can he make a cleaner save? We’ll never know, but I think he’s in his line of vision.”

Image via Sky Sports

Right decision to chalk off the goal

Replays clearly showed that Guimaraes was in an offside position and standing right in front of Kelleher, who had to adjust his body to make the save from Dan Burn before Isak turned the ball into the net, so we agree with Gallagher’s verdict.

There were a couple of decisions in the first half about which Liverpool fans might have legitimate grievances, with Kieran Trippier avoiding a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Luis Diaz (who was off the ground and landed awkwardly) and surviving what looked like a justifiable penalty claim for handball.

Whatever about the rights or wrongs of those refereeing calls, though, nobody can dispute the reality that Newcastle were deserving winners on the day, having performed much better than the Reds throughout the match at Wembley.

In the end, the VAR decision to chalk off what would’ve been Isak’s first goal didn’t impact the eventual outcome, and we imagine that Magpies supporters will rightly be too busy celebrating a famous victory to worry too much about this particular moment.