A footballer heads an opponent inside the penalty area. The referee sends him off after receiving a VAR intervention, but the team that suffered the attack does not receive a penalty. This is what happened during the Brentford-Liverpool match, won 2-1 by the “Reds”. The protagonist was Yehor Yarmoliuk, the midfielder of the home team, who was punished with a red card for violent behavior towards Jeremy Jacquet in the extra minutes of the first half. A decision that at first glance seems contradictory, but which has a clear explanation in the rules of football.
The incident occurred in first-half stoppage time, with Brentford leading 1-0 thanks to a goal by Keane Lewis-Potter. Liverpool were about to take a corner kick and, as the players were lining up in the opposition box, Yarmoliuk collided with Jacquet, who was challenging him. The Ukrainian headed the French defender in the face, sending him to the ground. The corner kick was taken, the defence cleared the ball and play continued as normal until VAR, led by Darren England, drew the attention of referee John Brooks and asked him to review the footage. After watching the incident on the monitor, Brooks showed Yarmoliuk a red card for violent conduct. Brentford were reduced to ten men, but Liverpool had to retake the corner kick. There was no penalty, although everything had happened inside the box.
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To understand how play should have restarted, a timing detail is crucial: at the moment Yarmoliuk took the action, the corner kick had not yet been taken. This means that the ball was not in play.
Law 12 of the IFAB, the body that sets the laws of football, distinguishes between disciplinary measures and how the match should be restarted. If an offence is committed when the ball is out of play, the match is restarted according to the decision previously made by the referee. In this case, with a corner kick in favour of Liverpool.
Law 17 gives a similar example: a defender pushes an opponent inside the penalty area before a corner kick is taken. The referee can show him a yellow or red card, depending on the seriousness of the action, but cannot award a penalty because the ball was not yet in play.
There is another element. Violent conduct can also be punished with a red card when a player tries to hit an opponent without making full contact. For this reason, VAR can intervene to signal a possible red card, without the need for a review of the episode to automatically result in a penalty.
Liverpool previously had a penalty disallowed by VAR
The incident came after another decision by referees late in the first half. Earlier, Brooks had awarded Liverpool a penalty after Dango Ouattara had brought down Alexis Mac Allister, but VAR intervened and overturned the decision. In the second half, the Reds took advantage of their numerical superiority. Victor Munoz equalised in the 62nd minute, while Alexander Isak equalised in the 70th minute. In extra time, Brentford were reduced to nine men after Vitaly Janelt was sent off for a second yellow card. Liverpool won a match in which the decisive incident had occurred before half-time: a header that was shown a red card but not a penalty.
