Jamie Carragher has criticised two “extremely harsh” VAR penalty decisions that contributed to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 3-2 defeat to Fulham.
Despite coming from behind twice, Wolves ultimately succumbed to a late Willian penalty, and Carragher believes that VAR played a pivotal role in the outcome of the match.
The game saw Wolves fall behind early when Alex Iwobi found the net, before Jean Ricner-Bellegarde’s skillful play set up Matheus Cunha to equalise.
The second half saw three penalties, with VAR taking the spotlight. Referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot for a foul by Nelson Semedo on Tom Cairney, a decision that Sky Sports pundit Carragher deemed “extremely harsh”.
“Semedo caught the top of Cairney’s boot. I think it is extremely harsh,” said the former Liverpool defender. “Semedo also gets a touch on the ball, not a lot but there is not a lot of contact with Cairney either.”
Wolves managed to level the score with their own penalty, converted by Hwang Hee-chan. However, a second penalty for Fulham, awarded after Joao Gomes was judged to have fouled Harry Wilson, proved decisive. Replays suggested minimal contact, and Carragher again expressed his reservations over the decision.
“Again, extremely harsh. [The] ref has an unbelievable position, shakes his head straight away. [It] looks worse when slowed down. I actually think that is more of a penalty than the first one but once the ref has not given it that should not be overturned — it’s not a clear and obvious error.”
The result saw Fulham climb to 14th place in the league, level on 15 points with Wolves, who remain in 12th place.
