Andy Madley and VAR should take credit – they got major Anfield calls right | Chris Foy

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There was one incident that got everyone talking at the weekend, and that was the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty in their match against Arsenal after Alexander Isak had his shirt pulled by Jurriën Timber as he tried to get his head to a Bradley Barcola cross.The on-field decision from the referee, Andy Madley, was no penalty and it was a call backed by the video assistant referee, Stuart Attwell. There’s a coming together of a number of players and Noni Madueke squares up to Mac Allister.

Here the question Madley had to answer was whether the contact by Madueke on Mac Allister added up to violent conduct. Madley gave a yellow card to Mac Allister but not to Madueke, who had been carded earlier and the VAR did not intervene to recommend a review given there was no evidence of a missed red card.

One intervention helps to draw a contrast with what happened, or didn’t happen, at Anfield, and that’s the decision to send off Jean-Philippe Mateta after VAR upgraded a yellow card to a red.Andy Madley booked Alexis Mac Allister but not Noni Madueke during their altercation at Anfield. The Frenchman was awarded a yellow card by the referee, Michael Oliver, but when the VAR, Jarred Gillett, reviewed the footage he could see that not only was Mateta coming from behind, he was well away from the ball and made full contact with his studs on Van de Ven’s achilles.