Isak and Mac Allister expose VAR’s mixed night in Liverpool-Arsenal clash

Arsenal left Anfield with a 1-0 win, but the biggest debate was not about the goal. Two very different incidents put VAR under the spotlight: Alexander Isak’s penalty appeal, which went unanswered, and the decision not to dismiss Noni Madueke after a confrontation with Alexis Mac Allister.

Kai Havertz’s early finish settled the match. Yet in the first half, Isak had his shirt pulled by Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber as he tried to attack the ball. The officials on the pitch saw no foul, and VAR did not intervene. Isak stayed upright and did not make an immediate protest.

That reaction became part of the argument. Jamie Carragher said the contact stopped a leading goalscorer from heading the ball and challenged VAR to act. Ian Wright also felt a penalty would have been defensible, arguing that Isak should not have to exaggerate the contact to make it count.

Daniel Sturridge made a similar point: the shirt was being held, and the striker should not need to fall over for the incident to be recognised. Virgil van Dijk said he had seen such situations given on other occasions, while acknowledging that this one was not. Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta said he had not watched it back and offered no comment.

The second flashpoint brought a different verdict. Late in the match, Mac Allister went down holding his face after his forehead touched Madueke’s. VAR reviewed the incident, but Madueke was not sent off; Mac Allister was booked instead.

The confrontation followed Mac Allister’s foul on Martin Ødegaard and a slap to the Arsenal captain’s head as he walked away. Carragher welcomed the decision not to dismiss Madueke and criticised what he saw as an attempt to win an advantage. Gary Neville also called Mac Allister’s reaction excessive, while Sturridge described the contact as a coming together rather than a forceful headbutt.

Together, the incidents made for an uncomfortable contrast. In the Isak case, critics argued that a clear shirt pull was missed because the striker did not go to ground. In the Madueke incident, VAR’s review helped prevent a red card being given for contact the pundits considered insufficient to warrant one.

Arsenal’s result stands, but the debate leaves a familiar question hanging over VAR: should decisions depend on how dramatically a player reacts, or on what the officials can see?