Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead against Man City in their Premier League match at Anfield on Sunday afternoon before he was sent off
Craig Pawson shows a red card to Dominik Szoboszlai
Craig Pawson shows a red card to Dominik Szoboszlai(Image: (Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images))
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The Premier League have explained why Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in the closing stages of Liverpool's defeat to Manchester City. Szoboszlai scored a stunning free-kick to give the Reds the lead midway through the second-half.
But Bernardo Silva drew City level before Erling Haaland scored from the spot after Alisson Becker brought down Omar Marmoush. And Pep Guardiola's side thought they had scored a third when Rayan Cherki rolled the ball into an empty net from the halfway line in stoppage time.
However, a VAR review eventually saw the goal ruled out due to a foul committed by Szoboszlai on Haaland in the build-up. As well as the goal being ruled out, the midfielder was shown a straight red card.
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And explaining why VAR had intervened, Gary Neville revealed on Sky: "Talk about killjoy. They have just killed one of the great moments of the season.
"The VAR is saying you cannot ignore the first foul and not give the second one. There isn't a football fan who will say that is a foul!”
An explanation then came from the Premier League, which read: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to Manchester City.”
Included in the post on X was what referee Craig Pawson told the Anfield crowd. He said: “After review, there is a careless foul by Erling Haaland that pulls the shirt of Dominik Szoboszlai.
Dominik Szoboszlai fouls Erling Haaland at the end of Sunday's game.
Dominik Szoboszlai was shown a straight red card after a VAR review for tugging Erling Haaland's shirt.(Image: AFP or licensors)
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“Prior to that, Szoboszlai commits a holding offence that denies an obvious goal scoring opportunity. The final decision is a direct free kick to Manchester City and a red card.”
Speaking post-match, City star said: "For the distance that we have to Arsenal, coming here it is the toughest place in the Premier League by far but we needed to go for another goal. When I scored, I was happy but we needed another and Erling got it.
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"Very happy, but these points count as much as any in any other game. It has been frustrating the beginning of the year because we have not done our job properly.
"We could be closer to Arsenal. For me, you must imagine how tough it is to win here but I am really happy.
"I feel the whole team knew before the game if we lost it then the title race was probably over. We felt like we needed to win. The hope is there and we are going to fight until the end. We need to keep doing our job that we haven't lately."