“Something’s Wrong” – Keith Hackett Criticises VAR Blunder in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 Win Over Liverpool

Former referee and ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Liverpool’s equaliser against Crystal Palace.

In their sixth Premier League outing of the season, the reigning champions visited Selhurst Park to face an Oliver Glasner side enjoying a remarkable 17-match unbeaten run—a streak that included victory over Liverpool in August’s Community Shield.

Although Federico Chiesa appeared to have salvaged a point for the Reds with a late leveller, substitute Eddie Nketiah struck in the 97th minute to seal a dramatic win and leave Palace as the league’s last unbeaten team.

While much of the post-match chatter has centred on Nketiah’s winner and Liverpool’s poor display, Hackett focused on the build-up to Chiesa’s goal.

“Hard to Fathom”

VAR reviewed the equaliser after Mohamed Salah, leaping to meet a cross, seemed to have his arm close to the ball. Hackett told reporters:

> “It’s hard to fathom. On the replay, you can clearly see Salah deliberately handling the ball, making himself bigger and reaching upward. He makes contact, yet the referee misses it.

VAR then checks and still gets it wrong. That is handball—no question. Either there’s a breakdown in communication or a technical issue, because the video evidence shows an obvious offence. It should have been penalised, full stop.”

Though Palace eventually found a winner, Hackett argued they would have been unfairly treated had the match finished level—both given their performance and the disputed nature of Liverpool’s goal.

Arne Slot’s men will now look to quickly recover, but given some inconsistent displays this term, it is perhaps no surprise their perfect league record has finally been broken.