Vincent Kompany 'Confused' by VAR Decision in Manchester City's Liverpool Loss

Former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has said he is "confused" by the decision not to disallow Liverpool's opening goal in the clash between the two sides on Sunday.

The Reds went ahead in the game through a long-range Fabinho strike, although in the buildup to the move, City had an appeal for a penalty waved away after the ball struck Trent Alexander-Arnold on the arm in the area.

After a VAR review, a penalty wasn't awarded, Liverpool's goal stood and the home side went on to win 3-1. Speaking about the controversial call, Kompany said he still wasn't sure why the penalty wasn't awarded for his old club, per Liam Grace of Sky Sports:

"The incident happens and I'm confused. That's the problem. I'm confused. I'm thinking 'Okay, I'm not the expert in everything'. Then I look to my right at Jose Mourinho, Roy Keane and Graham Souness. We're all confused.

"Surely that says something about the process? The fact that this could still be for debate when there's a VAR system that is meant to make football simpler and fairer.

"[The] goal happens 20 seconds later. My feeling remains that although Liverpool were great, and both teams tried to play the way they are known to play, I felt this first decision was so important to get right."

Kompany was a pundit during the game for Sky Sports. The broadcaster provided footage of the goal and the aftermath, when it was deemed the Liverpool defender hadn't committed an offence:

Afterwards, Alexander-Arnold said the ball struck his hand, but noted it hit Bernardo Silva on the arm prior to it striking him:

Football writer Rupert Fryer disagreed with Kompany's assessment of the incident during his in-game analysis:

City manager Pep Guardiola was clearly unhappy with the decision not to award the penalty and he cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines over the course of an intense game.

While City controlled long spells of the match, they were regularly found wanting in defence, as Liverpool were able to cut through them with ease. Mohamed Salah doubled the home side's advantage in the first period, before Sadio Mane made the match safe with a header.

City were without a number of key players at the back and it showed, with backup goalkeeper Claudio Bravo arguably culpable for a couple of Liverpool goals. David Mooney of the Blue Moon podcast looked at how much the team is missing stricken centre-back Aymeric Laporte too:

Kompany also dismissed the suggestion that his presence would have made a difference to the team at Anfield:

The centre-back left City at the end of the previous season, having won four Premier League titles and established a reputation as one of the best and most successful players in the club's history.

City's defeat leaves them in fourth place in the table, nine points behind leaders Liverpool. Going into the international break, the Reds' nearest challengers are Chelsea and Leicester City, who are eight points back.