An explanation has now been provided regarding why Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi escaped a red card during the Premier League clash against Liverpool. In their season opener, Liverpool—looking to bounce back from a Community Shield defeat—were put under early pressure by Bournemouth, with Antoine Semenyo nearly opening the scoring.
Shortly after, a key moment unfolded when new Liverpool signing Hugo Ekitike appeared set to capitalize on a defensive error and go through on goal, only for Senesi to seemingly block the ball with his hand. Despite VAR being in use, no action was taken against the Argentine, sparking controversy.
Carragher Slams VAR’s Justification
Jamie Carragher, commentating for Sky Sports, expressed his disbelief at the explanation provided by the VAR officials at Stockley Park.
“We heard the VAR say the ball came off his leg and then hit his hand, claiming he couldn’t do anything about it. They called it a second movement — but it wasn’t. He sees the danger and deliberately moves his arm toward the ball. How can VAR ignore that?
“What we just heard from the VAR simply didn’t happen.”
Carragher’s comments suggest that VAR failed to account for what appeared to be a deliberate second movement by Senesi’s hand after an initial deflection off his leg, which potentially interfered with play.
To address the growing confusion, the Premier League offered an official explanation via its Match Centre account on X (formerly Twitter). The statement read:
“The referee’s decision not to send off Senesi was reviewed and confirmed by VAR. The incident was not considered a clear handball offense or a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO), due to the distance from goal.”
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