The big game of the premier league weekend is taking place on Sunday, with Liverpool playing host to Manchester United at Anfield.
The clash between the two teams is one of the biggest in the premier league calendar, with England’s two most decorated clubs and the two fierce rivals going hammer and tongs with one another.
And this season’s first iteration of the rivalry got off to an extraordinary start with Bryan Mbeumo giving United a shock lead after just one minute at Anfield. The Cameroonian fired past Giorgi Mamardashvili in the LIVERPOOL goal with barely a minute on the clock, having been played in by Amad Diallo.
But that does not tell the whole story of the lightning-quick start.
In the build-up to the goal, Mbeumo went up for a header in the middle of the park with Liverpool duo Alexis Mac Allister and Virgil van Dijk. United won possession, wsith Mac Allister going down with a head injury.
From there, United broke, with Diallo finding the forward-rushing Mbeumo to fire home and stun the Anfield crowd.
On the touchline Arne Slot was not impressed and neither were his Liverpool players, with a number of them asking referee Michael Oliver why he did not stop the game because of a head injury.
Mac Allister required lengthy treatment on the pitch and was eventually given a piece of headgear like a skull cap to wear for the rest of the half. The goal stood, however, leaving everyone of a Liverpool persuasion enraged.
General protocol is for a Premier League referee to stop the game when there is a head injury, but there are no specific rules about calling the match to a halt.
A piece on the official Premier League website read: “Where a player has a suspected head injury and the referee stops the game, the official will immediately signal for a doctor or physio to enter the pitch in order to promote player welfare. The player will need to leave the pitch for further assessment and remain on the touchline for a minimum 30 seconds after play has restarted.”
It does not actually specify that the game has to be stopped by the referee, although it is widely accepted that play will be halted for head injuries.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), who enforce the laws of the game, state that in the case of injuries a referee only “stops play if a player is seriously injured and ensures that the player is removed from the field of play”.
VAR could also not get involved as there is no protocol for that. It was actually Mac Allister’s teammate van Dijk that made contact with the Argentine’s head and therefore there was no foul for VAR to intervene over.
