Sports

West Brom stuns Liverpool amid VAR chaos

January 28, 2018
West Bromwich Albion’s Jay Rodriguez celebrates after the final whistle of the English FA Cup match against Liverpool at the Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, Saturday. — AP
West Bromwich Albion’s Jay Rodriguez celebrates after the final whistle of the English FA Cup match against Liverpool at the Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, Saturday. — AP

LONDON — Jay Rodriguez scored twice as West Bromwich Albion stunned Liverpool with a 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round win at Anfield Saturday in a tie overshadowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), after Harry Kane spared Tottenham a shock defeat by lowly Newport.

A remarkable first half on Merseyside saw the Baggies, second-bottom in the top flight, race into a 2-1 lead inside 11 minutes against a Liverpool team pushing for a place in the Champions League.

Roberto Firmino put Liverpool ahead in the fifth minute after a mix-up, only for Rodriguez to hit back with two well-taken goals.

VAR, being trialed in English cup competitions this season, then took center stage.

Referee Craig Pawson denied West Brom a third goal after ruling out Craig Dawson’s effort by using VAR to determine that Gareth Barry was offside.

Pawson then become the first English referee to consult a touchline monitor himself before awarding Liverpool a penalty for a foul on Mohamed Salah by Jake Livermore.

That prompted furious protests by the visitors, with Barry booked for dissent, only for Firmino’s spotkick to hit the crossbar.

There was yet another VAR review prior to the break, before a Joel Matip own goal that put West Brom 3-1 up was allowed.

Egypt striker Salah gave seven-time FA Cup winners Liverpool hope in the 78th minute with his 25th goal in just 32 appearances for the Reds, but Alan Pardew’s Premier League struggler still booked its place in the last 16.

Juventus goes top

Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain scored as champions Juventus went top in Serie A with a 2-0 win at nine-man Chievo Saturday.

The side from Verona played the last half hour two men down after Samuel Bastien and Fabrizio Cacciatore were both needlessly sent off at the Bentegodi Stadium.

The two-man advantage spurred on Juventus who move two points clear of Napoli at the top of the league after 22 games but Maurizio Sarri’s side can reclaim the lead when they host Bologna on Sunday.

Juventus had difficultly getting past Chievo, who despite their 13th position held on in the first half before Bastien was sent off on 36 minutes after two yellow cards in the space of just two minutes, both for fouling Kwadwo Asamoah.

Cacciatore followed on the hour mark for dissent, after infuriating the referee with a handcuffs gesture.

Five minutes later Khedira picked up a Federico Bernardeschi cross to fire in the opener with Higuain breaking his goal drought, meeting a Douglas Costa cross to head in his tenth goal of the campaign with two minutes to go.

Chievo coach Rolando Maran was furious with Cacciatore’s sending off.

“The gesture he made was wrong, but there was no need to send him off,” said Maran.

“A player can lose his head in a tense moment, but when down to nine men, you are left with frustration and anger.”

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon sat on the bench on his return after two months out with a calf injury on the eve of his 40th birthday.

“What will I give to Buffon for 40 years?” said Allegri. “That the next 40 are better than the previous ones.

“Gigi is an extraordinary champion. We’re happy that he’s back and on Tuesday (Italian Cup) he will start.”

Earlier Atalanta, who Juventus meet in next week’s Italian Cup semifinals, maintained their push for Europe with a comfortable 3-0 win at Sassuolo, to move ahead of AC Milan who host Lazio on Sunday.

“Atalanta are in a great period of form and we need to put in a strong performance,” added Allegri. — Agenies


January 28, 2018
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