Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has criticized VAR for its decision to deny Chelsea two penalties in their 4-1 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday. According to Ferdinand, these decisions had the potential to alter the course of the game.
In the first incident, Reds captain Virgil van Dijk leaned into Conor Gallagher, causing the Chelsea midfielder to go down inside the box early on. Referee Paul Tierney allowed play to continue, and VAR concurred with the on-field decision.
Van Dijk was also involved in the second incident, where he clipped Christopher Nkunku inside the penalty area. Once again, VAR reviewed the incident and upheld the on-field decision.
Post-match, Ferdinand expressed disbelief at VAR’s failure to award penalties for Chelsea in both instances, stating, “I can’t believe VAR hasn’t seen that and not given the penalties. VAR is meant to help in these situations. How have they looked at those two incidents and not thought they were penalties [for Chelsea]? I still think Chelsea were well off it today, but those penalties could have changed the nature of the game.”