Michael Salisbury has been taken off duty as the video assistant referee for Liverpool and Arsenal’s showdown at Anfield this afternoon. Salisbury was the VAR for Chelsea’s controversial 2-0 victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge yesterday. The decision to chalk off Josh King’s goal for Fulham that would have made it 1-0 to the visitors caused contention and left Cottagers boss Marco Silva furious.
The PGMOL have now admitted it was an error for the VAR to intervene. John Brooks has been selected to take over from Salisbury on chief VAR responsibilities on Merseyside. Fulham appeared to have seized a 1-0 lead against Chelsea when 18-year-old academy product King found the net in the 21st minute at Stamford Bridge. However, the strike was disallowed for a ‘careless challenge’ by Rodrigo Muniz during the build-up.
Referee Robert Jones supported Salisbury’s assessment after examining the pitch-side monitor but the decision triggered controversy. “How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable,” Fulham manager Marco Silva told TNT Sports afterwards. “We have meetings with referee and people in charge, we all want to win. VAR is not here to re-referee the game.
“I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don’t want to be fined. But it has been a difficult start to the season with some decisions.
“I would love to explain many things. The first goal – eight minutes extra time. After the first corner it was already nine minutes. It is time to stop the game. That is the rules.
“I asked the referee and he said because we lost time. But I checked the eight minutes. The game didn’t stop. It’s very difficult. I make mistakes, the referee makes mistakes, but when it is black or white, we cannot see something that is not there.”
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