Liverpool were again VAR-free for their League Cup semi-final against Fulham thanks to Middlesbrough’s progress in the competition.
You have to admit it was great to cheer these fearless goals at Anfield. Overall, despite the lack of ‘assistance’ from Stokely Park, the game avoided major controversy. Referee David Coote gave Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk a scandalous yellow card, but VAR still had nothing to do. Overall, the game played much better. But this despite the efforts of Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Even at 0-0, the former Arsenal man had a good time with the goal kick and the ball in his hands. It was only a punishable offense if your name was Simon. Mignolet is what Liverpool fans know. This became even more evident after Fulham took the lead. This is of course understandable. Liverpool were favorites and after two games this season it was clear that if Fulham won even once the club would be in danger of relegation.
This is especially true at Anfield (not always great late at night, but certainly strong). after several minutes). However, it is the responsibility of government officials to properly verify this. There should have been a real crackdown on dissent this season, but that seems to have gone out the window a long time ago, with Liverpool seemingly receiving proportionate punishment. What’s really surprising about this match is that Coote wasn’t completely blind to Leno’s antics.
For the second and third questions, the Fulham stopper started the replay with a whistle and a hand gesture. He waited again and the referee signaled again. Of course it was a yellow card, right? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a referee waste time with the same shot twice and not alert the keeper and give him a warning. But Coote decided to do it.
To make matters worse, he alerted Leno again a few minutes later, this time tapping his watch to indicate that time was running out. But no yellow card has been issued yet. The icing on the cake came three minutes later when the fourth official raised his flag at the end of the first half. Again, this will be part of the cap for the 2023/2024 season, but it looked low last season too.
According to the general rules, Fulham’s goal celebration had to last 30 seconds. Then there was Leno’s antics, which Coote noticed. There was also a physiological increase. Sir Kenny Dalglish ran to the bathroom from the stand. I returned without missing a step. Leno picked up his pace a bit in the second half and upset the Kop.
However, it was Liverpool’s quick-fire double that took Fulham one step further. It was almost a carbon copy of a league game, with one goal scored and Anfield getting the other.At that time I had to respect the faces of the fans outside. When Caoimhin Kelleher scored there was ironic support from Anfield behind his goal.
With Liverpool currently holding a one-goal advantage over London, let’s hope Fulham don’t look to overwhelm their opponents when they meet at Craven Cottage. Chaos would have been lucky to overcome Leno’s tragedy and strange refereeing to secure an important win at home as Marco Silva’s normally well-coached side took on Jurgen Klopp’s side.
