Gary O’Neil slams VAR after red card vs Liverpool and makes Virgil van Dijk complaint

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil bemoaned what he regarded a VAR error that benefited Liverpool and slammed a “completely unacceptable” season for officials.

The Reds ended the Jurgen Klopp era with a 2-0 Premier League win over the Midlanders at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Alexis Mac Allister and Jarell Quansah scored in the first half after Wolves full-back Nelson Semedo was sent off for a stamp on Mac Allister.

Referee Chris Kavanagh changed his decision from a yellow card to a red having been invited to consult his pitchside monitor by VAR David Coote

And having seen his team on the wrong end of a succession of questionable VAR calls this campaign, O’Neil believes Wolves were again hard done by.

“The VAR doesn’t even pause it at the right place when he’s watching it back,” he said. “They pause it when Nelson’s foot is really high, in line with his shin, and he hasn’t made contact yet – he misses his shin and lands on his foot.

O’Neil added: “They have to get better at it. This season has been completely unacceptable from an officiating point of view. It’s been terrible. We used to moan about referees when I played, you would always have a gripe but you knew it was live and things were moving quickly.

“For them not to be able to show the intelligence that if they watch it in slow-motion it is probably going to look worse. Take that into account firstly. Take into account the referee and his view. Do I need to get involved? I thought VAR was brought in for things like Thierry Henry’s handball against the Republic of Ireland when the referee misses it. ‘We’ve seen it and we can help’.

“Not for Nelson standing on someone’s foot and deemed reckless. I’ve been really disappointed with the officiating this year. It’s been really poor. For the whole league the level of officiating has to be better.”

O’Neil believes Wolves should also have had a penalty when Matheus Cunha tumbled to the ground when challenging with Virgil van Dijk during the first half.

“I thought Van Dijk got lucky as Cunha got across him,” said the former Liverpool Academy coach. “Normally side-to-side with contact that isn’t given but I thought he got on the wrong side of him and if you put an arm on him you run a real risk of giving a penalty.

“I thought we had a real good shout for one there. When the ref doesn’t give it you are pretty sure it won’t be overturned. But the game was done when they sent Nelson off.”