The fact that Pascal Gross didn’t receive a red card or even a warning for giving up a penalty to Brighton baffled Liverpool fans.
Because VAR officials did not deem Pascal Gross’ chances against Liverpool to be a “clear goalscoring opportunity,” he did not receive a red card.
The German midfielder pulled down Dominik Szoboszlai within the penalty area while playing for Brighton, and there was no apparent attempt to move the ball. Liverpool was given a penalty. With a goal from Mohamed Salah, the Reds were up 2-1.
Players who have made an attempt to regain possession are exempt from the referee’s ejection. In this case, Gross, 32, avoided receiving both a yellow and a red card for the same violation.
Guidance on denial of clear goalscoring opportunities states: “Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.), the offending player must be sent off.”
Although Salah scored, Liverpool fans were furious that Gross escaped punishment because it was believed that Szoboszlai was not moving towards goal and that he would need to gain possession in order for the chance to become a goal-scoring opportunity.
If Gross hadn’t fouled Szoboszlai, Bart Verbruggen of Brighton would have been Szoboszlai’s only opponent.
This comes after last week’s VAR dispute, in which a goal by Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside despite the VAR officials’ confirmation that it was a goal. In the loss to Tottenham, Liverpool also had two players receive ejections.