Liverpool players appeal to referee
The failure to award a penalty for Liverpool after Alexander Isak had his shirt pulled by Jurrien Timber was a 'dereliction of duty'.
That's the opinion of talkSPORT hosts Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist, who have slammed VAR for not stepping in at Anfield.
Jurrien Timber pulls Alexander Isak's shirt3
Timber managed to avoid giving away a penalty despite clearly pulling Isak's shirt in the box during Arsenal's win over Liverpool
In the 21st minute of the clash, which Arsenal ended up winning 1-0, Bradley Barcola whipped a dangerous cross into the box.
Isak stepped into space in front of Timber and tried to head the ball home for an equaliser, but the latter clearly pulled his shirt.
The pull seemed to prevent the Liverpool striker from getting a touch, with the ball bouncing clear and wide of the far post.
Referee Andy Madley didn't spot the incident at the time, while Isak didn't fall over in the box and didn't complain to the officials.
Messi set to make MLS history as he moves ahead in Golden Boot raceMartinez's Man United career could be over but Estevao proved his Chelsea future is brightArsenal's statement win over Liverpool is massive, it's a one-horse title raceMartinez red card was 'mutinous' as call made for him to never play for Man United again
talkSPORT understands VAR also decided not to overturn the decision despite a check, with the incident not reaching the Premier League's high threshold for intervention.
The Gunners then went on to win by a single goal after the Reds were controversially denied in the first half.
Stelling and McCoist slam VAR
Giving his thoughts on the costly incident, Stelling on talkSPORT Breakfast: "Look, I don't blame the referee for not seeing it.
"There's no discussion over whether it was a penalty or not as it clearly should have been.
"It's a dereliction of duty from the VAR."
McCoist agreed with Stelling and pointed out that Isak not falling over shouldn't determine whether it was a penalty or not.
"I thought the referee had a good game, he can't see everything, and that's where he needs help from his VAR," he said.
"We're criticising people for going down too easily, want them to stay on their feet.
"Isak has clearly wanted to get a head on the ball, so he's doing everything he can to stay on his feet.
"Just because he does that, he has fallen victim to the penalty not being given.
"Whether he falls down or not has nothing to do with whether it's a penalty because it's clearly a penalty.
"I thought it was a really poor decision from the VAR team."
Jurrien Timber speaks to referee3
Stelling and McCoist are furious that VAR didn't step in to penalise Timber for the shirt pull as Isak didn't fall over
Why didn't VAR award the penalty?
Ex-Premier League referee Chris Foy joined Stelling and McCoist on talkSPORT Breakfast to explain the controversial decision.
He admitted that if Madley had pointed to the spot, then VAR would have agreed and awarded a penalty at Anfield.
Foy said: "It's an interesting one. Had a penalty been given on-field then VAR would have confirmed that.
"I think what we have to understand with VAR in this situation is that they're not going to look at in slow motion, slow it down and look at still photographs, as they would be accused of re-refereeing that incident, and that's probably why Stuart Atwell didn't intervene."
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola and captain Virgil van Dijk were both furious when speaking about the incident post-match.
Iraola admitted that he will be telling Isak to go down next time, encouraging his players to dive if that's what it takes.
Andoni Iraola appeals during Liverpool vs Arsenal3
Iraola couldn't believe the penalty wasn't given, but ex-referee Foy has explained why the spot-kick wasn't given by VAR
But Foy defended the VAR decision, saying: "People will go to ground and what I can say is, they give referees a decision to make in those situations.
"This has created a lot of noise, we talked about the high bar for interventention. I understand what has been done on VAR, but if that was given on-field we wouldn't be having this conversation."
He added: "When you watch it in real time...it's a slight tug, I'm not sure it's that sustained and that is the reason.
"When you look at it in slow motion it looks horrendous, it does look a foul, but that's not what they're about, the VARs.
"That's how they're operating and the message they are conveying from that point of view."