Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has advised Liverpool to put the VAR controversy behind them, which played a part in their loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In the match, Mohamed Salah set up Luis Diaz for a goal, but it was disallowed due to an offside flag. After a VAR review, it was known that the decision to disallow the goal was incorrect.
However, the match officials, including referee Darren England and assistant Dan Cook, failed to communicate this mistake to on-field referee Simon Hooper.
The incident, which has added to the criticism facing VAR, has dominated discussions this week. Following the release of VAR audio recordings, Liverpool’s manager Klopp requested a replay of the match which Tottenham Hotspur won.
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Nevertheless, Guardiola has urged Liverpool to let go of the incident, as they have received an apology from PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), and the officials responsible have been sidelined.
Guardiola shared this perspective during a pre-match press conference before Man City’s visit to Arsenal. As quoted by Sky Sports, he said:
“It’s done – it was a mistake – accept it. It’s always difficult. The human makes a mistake, but the machines have to uphold it. That’s why the VAR is there to reduce all the human mistakes we do.”
"It's done. It was a mistake. Accept it"
Pep Guardiola after calls for a replay to be played between Tottenham and Liverpool 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/LZIIhxhwLD
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 6, 2023
Man City are playing in the top four but their last game against Wolverhampton Wanderers did give them a setback on the road.
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Meanwhile, Liverpool would need to get over the unfortunate loss and play with more hunger against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Sunday.
The VAR drama will certainly leave a huge mark this season and improvements are needed if they want to prevent such incidents in the future.
