Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest at Anfield on 29 August, as Andoni Iraola’s side twice came from behind in his first home Premier League match in charge of the club.
Liverpool’s defending for that goal was poor, with a long ball from Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels proving the Reds’ undoing in the build-up to Dan Ndoye’s opener in the first half.
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Cody Gakpo then set up Alexander Isak’s equaliser with a cross after getting in down the right, levelling the scores on the hour mark.
Morgan Gibbs-White restored Forest’s lead from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, after Alisson brought down Neco Williams inside the Liverpool box.
Victor Munoz scored his first Premier League goal for the club to rescue a point for the hosts eight minutes from time.
The draw left the visitors unbeaten in their last three visits to Anfield, while Iraola was still waiting for his first win as Liverpool boss, having also come from behind to draw 2-2 at Newcastle in his opening game in charge.
The penalty award has since been addressed by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel, which published its outcomes from Matchweek 2 fixtures, including the Liverpool-Forest game.
The panel determined that referee Sam Barrott’s decision to award the penalty was incorrect, by a 3:2 vote.
The panel found that the contact from Alisson was an inevitable consequence of his momentum as he attempted to save the ball, ruling it “not reckless and below the threshold for a penalty.”
However, the panel found no fault with VAR Michael Oliver’s decision not to send Barrott to the pitchside monitor.
The non-intervention by the VAR was unanimously supported on the basis that it was not “a clear and obvious error.”
The panel can reach different conclusions on the same incident because a VAR intervention carries a higher threshold than an on-field decision.
Liverpool have since picked up their first win of the season, beating Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road last weekend thanks to a quickfire brace from Isak inside the opening nine minutes.
Iraola’s side now turn their attention to Europe, hosting Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday evening in the head coach’s first Champions League game in charge of the club.
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