After referee Flanders blew the whistle for the end of Liverpool's match against Crystal Palace, the home fans booed and Vieira angrily followed the referee into the players' tunnel. Flanders made two key penalties in this campaign, both of which were in Liverpool's favour and angered Vieira.
The first key penalty was a second goal scored by Liverpool, who swept in from a tight angle after receiving Robertson's diagonal cross from the left. Firmino was in an offside position, though, but the video assistant referee decided he was not interfering with the game and ruled the penalty effective.
The second key penalty came in the final moments, when Jota broke into the penalty area and collided with Guaita and fell to the ground. The referee did not award a penalty at the first time, however, after receiving a reminder from the video assistant referee, Flanders looked back at the slow motion and changed the penalty.
First of all, it was a very critical penalty. Crystal Palace was 1-2 behind at this time, but Vieira had just replaced Benteke and Ayew and changed the formation to 424, which was enough to show his determination to equalize and even reverse the score. However, the penalty poured cold water on Crystal Palace.
Second, this is a penalty that will even affect the situation of the title race. If Fabinho hadn't scored a penalty and Crystal Palace had finally equalised, Liverpool would have trailed by 11 points with one less game, almost losing the possibility of a title race.
Returning to the decision itself, Sky Sports noted, "The video assistant referee watched it about 15 times before finally concluding that Guaita had fouled Jota." ”
Legendary midfielder Jamie Redknapp said, "It wasn't a penalty, the referee was right at the start. As you can see, it was Jota who bumped into Guaita. VAR got it wrong, but the referee could still go to the slow motion and stick to his original decision, which Liverpool would accept. ”
Indeed, in slow motion, Jota tried to pick a shot after breaking into the penalty area, but he did not touch the ball. At this time, Guaita, who was trying to save, obviously retracted his movements, and even raised his hands upwards, more like a Jota who did not hold his feet and crashed into Guaita's body.
Former Crystal Palace striker Glenn Morrie angrily said, "Jota missed the ball and crashed into Guaita. I couldn't understand why Flanders had to go to the replay, let alone award a penalty. For me, he ruined a very nice game. ”
Famous football writer Henry Winter said, "It's never a penalty, a ridiculous decision. Harsh referees ruined Crystal Palace's chances of equalising, and such referees became a problem for the Premier League. ”