Liverpool 2-3 West Bromwich Albion: 5 Talking Points

#2: VAR comes to Liverpool's rescue on two occasions

The VAR makes headlines yet again

Had this been a regular Premier League fixture, West Brom would have been 3-1 up and Liverpool would not have been awarded a penalty after 25 minutes. However, with there being a Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the Baggies were stripped of a goal and saw a penalty awarded against them after referee Craig Pawson took a look at the incident himself before overturning his own decision.

Craig Dawson's headed effort was chalked off after VAR was introduced - having seen the replays, it was clear that Gareth Barry appeared to be in an offside position standing just in-front of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, while impeding the Belgian to prevent him from making a saving attempt.

Livermore and Salah battled for the ball when the Englishman's pull brought down the Liverpool forward in the box. In real time, Pawson did not spot this infringment, but after having multiple glances at the incident again, he decided a penalty was awarded.

West Brom players felt it was a harsh decision and were understandably overjoyed when Firmino's spot-kick hit the crossbar, consequently keeping their lead intact.

This is what the VAR saw for West Brom's third goal, which was subsequently ruled out for offside.25 minutes in and what a game we have already 😳 pic.twitter.com/ilr9yLDC6X

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 27, 2018