'Liverpool should have had a penalty v Man City' says former top referee as Premier League told VAR error made

Liverpool fans were left feeling denied a massive three points in their Premier League title challenge after a stoppage time penalty call against Manchester City was denied by VAR. The two juggernauts met at Anfield in a potential title-decider but were forced to settle for a point each after another 1-1 draw.

Alexis Mac Allister, who had previously converted from the spot to cancel out John Stones' opener, was struck in the chest by the studs of Jérémy Doku in the dying embers of the enthralling clash at Anfield.

Referee Michael Oliver was not convinced it was a foul inside the box and VAR later deemed that Doku had played the ball before making contact with Mac Allister. Jurgen Klopp addressed the decision during his post-match interviews and stressed how he felt it was 'a penalty for all football people on the planet'.

With Liverpool now second in the table, behind Arsenal on goal difference, and City just one point adrift in third, the title race has no room for any errors. However, the narrative could be very different if the Reds had been given a second penalty at Anfield, and Mark Clattenburg agrees it should have gone in their favour.

"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," the former referee wrote in his Daily Mail column.

"The ball bounces up. Alexis Mac Allister moves towards it. Jérémy Doku’s foot is high. He catches Mac Allister in the chest. Outside of the box, this would have resulted in a free-kick, every day of the week. Just because it happened inside the box does not suddenly transform it into a clean challenge when Mac Allister might be left playing connect the dots on his chest on Monday morning.

"Regardless of the magnitude of the match and the fact it happened in the 98th minute, this was an incident worthy of a penalty. Everybody could see this was a penalty for Liverpool."