Darwin Nunez VAR Decision Questioned as Southampton Boss Makes Definitive Penalty Statement

Southampton manager Ivan Juric has reacted to his team’s defeat against Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Juric remains firm in his belief that Liverpool should not have been awarded their first penalty, which played a key role in Southampton’s loss at Anfield.

Despite sitting at the bottom of the table, the Saints took the lead through Will Smallbone’s goal before two quick strikes in three minutes shifted the momentum and secured a 3-1 victory for Liverpool.

Darwin Nunez equalised in the 51st minute and later won a penalty after being deemed to have been fouled by Smallbone. Mohamed Salah successfully converted the spot-kick to give Liverpool the advantage.

Earlier in the match, VAR supported referee Lewis Smith’s decision to issue only a yellow card to Nunez after a reckless challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters.

When questioned about his feelings on the decisions made by the video assistant referees, Juric shared his thoughts.

“I am a little bit. I think the first penalty was not a penalty and that changed the match.

“This cannot be a penalty ever. The contact was too soft to be a penalty in England. I’m sorry it happened because it was 1-1 and it changed the match a little bit. We have lots of young players who want to grow up and improve.

“We can lose but we have to fight like we fight today. I am satisfied with how we played today.”

Salah scored another penalty late in the game after Southampton substitute Yukinari Sugawara, who had given away a crucial handball penalty in Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over the Saints earlier in the season, handled the ball again while being pressured by Luis Diaz.

“I know it was a handball last time, I think he was a little bit pushed,” said Juric. “But he needs to be more careful, you can’t give away penalties in that situation.”

While Liverpool sit 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League, Southampton remain at the bottom of the table with only nine points from 28 matches.

But Juric said of his team’s form: “We did some really good games in this period (since his appointment shortly before Christmas), but the last two games were really bad.

“Today we changed the way we were playing and the players were really confident and we did some really good things.

“We want to still be aggressive but the players need to be closer to each other. They worked hard this week, they understood the things we wanted. They did well.”

In other news, Luis Enrique Sends New Warning to Liverpool After PSG Earn Crushing Victory